1 October 2020: GRM Talks - Webinar Series on Grievance Redress Systems and Consumer Protection

Talk 1: Addressing Grievances Outside of the Court: Lessons from Grahak Sahayta Kendra
Deepak Saxena, CUTS International, Jaipur

Abstract:
Grahak Sahayta Kendra (GSK) helps financial consumers address their grievances with physical centres that serve as a non-judicial stop point for consumers. We present lessons from the GSK on designs of grievance redress, and the nature of complaints from financial consumers.

Talk 2: Notes on Grievance Redress from the Field
Srishti Sharma, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

Abstract:
We present lessons from focussed group discussions that were carried out in Nagpur and Mumbai among varying demographic groups accessing different financial products. We gathered insights on access to financial products, incidence of grievances in the formal financial sector, and how consumers interact with formal and informal mechanisms of grievance redress. We found low levels of reporting of grievances irrespective of the economic background and access to financial products among consumers. Lack of awareness of such mechanisms is the most cited reason and common across groups. Consumers from rural areas with poor economic background and limited access to finance showed a high level of tolerance to financial grievances. They cited the fear of retribution as an additional reason for not airing their grievances. On the other hand, the consumers from urban households having high access to financial products reported the complexity of the grievance redress process and lack of trust in such mechanisms as the contributing factors.

Organised by
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi

Date: October 1, 2020
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Note:
To receive login details for the Webinar, please register for the event here.

17 September 2020: Webinar on "How have Indian courts dealt with consumer finance disputes?"

Karan Gulati, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

Discussant
K. P. Krishnan, National Council of Applied Economic Research

Organised by
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi

Abstract:
This paper studies the role of courts in consumer nance disputes in India. It describes the structure of the courts that consumers can access, such as the consumer courts established under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (and now 2019), High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. It finds that in the case of banking disputes, courts have generally sided with the consumer when banks behaved contrary to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circulars. In the case of insurance, courts have taken a pro-industry contractual compliance stance. Hence, consumers did not get a remedy in cases where the contracts had unfair terms. The paper also finds that courts tend to award low compensation, take a long time for adjudication, do not have systems for class action suits, and generally lack specialization to deal with consumer finance issues. All of these are important issues that must be addressed for courts to become more effective in providing relief regarding consumer finance (and other) disputes.

Date: September 17, 2020
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Note:
To receive login details for the Webinar, please register for the event here.