16% to 67% in 14yrs: Why your consumer case is now far more likely to drag beyond a year

Richa GandhiTNN
Mar 19, 2026 | 15:56 IST

A system built for quick relief is increasingly failing to deliver on time. In 2011, just 16% of cases took over a year to resolve. That's now jumped to a staggering 67%, thanks to vacancies in crucial posts and increasing backlog

Consumer courts were set up to provide a fast and affordable grievance redress mechanism for the common citizen and reduce the burden on the judicial system.

However, the Consumer Justice Report 2026 finds that pendency has crept up in these courts — where housing and insurance account for the bulk of cases — even though there is wide variation in the disposal rate among states.
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