Tracking consumer commission and NCLT matters: what companies need to know

Why these two forums deserve their own tracking

Most in-house litigation registers are built around courts. Consumer commissions and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) sit outside that pattern. Each has its own filing portal, its own case numbering and, more importantly, short statutory windows that run from events a legal team may hear about late: a notice received at a branch, an order uploaded to a portal, a demand notice sent to the registered office.

The two forums also carry different kinds of risk. Consumer complaints are usually high in number and low in individual value, and the risk is cumulative: a pattern of complaints about the same product, the same clause or the same region. NCLT matters are fewer but can be existential. An admitted insolvency application against your company, or a petition by a shareholder, changes who controls decisions. Both need to be tracked by the dates the statute sets, not only by the next hearing date.

Which consumer commission hears a complaint?

Section 34 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 sets the District Commission's jurisdiction by the value of the goods or services paid as consideration, and allows the Central Government to prescribe different values. It did so through the Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District Commission, the State Commission and the National Commission) Rules, 2021, announced by the Department of Consumer Affairs on 30 December 2021:

• District Commission: where the value of goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed ₹50 lakh.
• State Commission: where it exceeds ₹50 lakh but does not exceed ₹2 crore.
• National Commission (NCDRC): where it exceeds ₹2 crore.

The tier depends on what was paid, not what is claimed

The test is the consideration paid for the goods or services, not the compensation the complainant asks for. A complaint about a product that cost ₹2 lakh belongs in a District Commission even if it seeks a large sum for loss and harassment. When you log a new complaint, record both figures separately: the consideration, which tells you whether the forum is correct, and the amount claimed, which is your exposure.

Territory matters too. Under section 34(2), a complaint can be filed where the opposite party resides, carries on business or has a branch office, where the cause of action arose wholly or in part, or where the complainant resides or personally works for gain. For a company with national distribution, that means complaints can arrive from any district in the country, which is exactly why a single register matters.

One threshold question is worth recording on every file: is the complainant a consumer at all? Section 2(7) excludes a person who buys goods for resale or for any commercial purpose, or who avails of a service for any commercial purpose, subject to an explanation covering goods used exclusively to earn a livelihood by self-employment. Whether a business customer falls within that exclusion is a question for counsel, but it should be flagged at intake, not discovered at the hearing.

What are the deadlines in a consumer case?

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 sets a small number of dates that every consumer matter should carry:

• Limitation: section 69 says a commission shall not admit a complaint unless it is filed within two years from the date the cause of action arose. It may condone delay where the complainant shows sufficient cause, but must record its reasons.
• Disposal: section 38(7) asks the District Commission to endeavour to decide a complaint within three months from the date the opposite party receives notice, or five months where analysis or testing of commodities is needed. Adjournments are not ordinarily granted without sufficient cause recorded in writing.
• Review: a District or State Commission can review its own order for an error apparent on the face of the record, on an application made within thirty days of the order.
• Appeal from a District Commission to the State Commission: within 45 days of the order (section 41).
• Appeal from a State Commission's original order to the National Commission: within 30 days (section 51(1)).
• Appeal from a National Commission's original order to the Supreme Court: within 30 days (section 67).

Appeals cost money up front: plan for the pre-deposit

Each of those appeal provisions carries a condition that finance needs to know about early. An appellant required to pay an amount under the order cannot have the appeal entertained unless it has deposited fifty per cent of that amount, in the manner prescribed. That is the position in section 41 for appeals from the District Commission, section 51 for appeals to the National Commission and section 67 for appeals to the Supreme Court.

Non-compliance is not a safe default either. Section 72 makes failure to comply with a commission's order punishable with imprisonment of one month to three years, a fine of ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh, or both. For an in-house team, every adverse order therefore needs a decision recorded within the appeal window: comply, settle or appeal, with the deposit amount and the payment date tracked against the matter.

Where are consumer cases filed and tracked now?

Section 35 allows complaints to be filed electronically. Since 1 January 2025 the Department of Consumer Affairs has run e-Jagriti, which it describes as a unified platform that integrates the earlier systems, including e-Daakhil, CONFONET, OCMS and the NCDRC case management system. According to the Department, it is operational at the NCDRC and across all 36 States and Union Territories, and supports online filing, fee payment, virtual hearings and case tracking with SMS and email updates.

References to e-Daakhil in older notices and internal procedures should be updated. For tracking, the practical point is the same as for courts: capture the commission, the case number and the next date from the portal into your own register, because the portal will tell you the status of a case but not your exposure, your owner or the product and contract it relates to.

What brings a company before the NCLT?

The NCLT is constituted under section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013 and is the Adjudicating Authority for corporate insolvency under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. For most companies, NCLT matters fall into a few groups:

• Insolvency applications against the company, by a financial creditor under section 7 or an operational creditor such as a supplier under section 9 of the Code.
• Insolvency applications the company files against its own customers or counterparties, as a creditor.
• Company-law petitions, such as applications for relief in cases of oppression and mismanagement under section 241, and schemes of compromise or arrangement under section 230 of the Companies Act.

The ten-day window after an IBC demand notice

The most time-critical NCLT event is often not a hearing at all. Under section 8 of the Code, an operational creditor may deliver a demand notice or a copy of an invoice demanding payment of a defaulted amount. The company then has ten days from receipt to bring to the creditor's notice either the existence of a dispute, or a record of a suit or arbitration filed before the notice was received, or proof of payment.

Under section 9, if the creditor receives neither payment nor notice of dispute after those ten days, it may apply to the NCLT. The tribunal is to admit or reject within fourteen days, and a notice of dispute received by the creditor is a ground for rejection. Section 4 applies the insolvency process only where the default is at least the minimum amount notified, which the Ministry of Corporate Affairs raised to ₹1 crore on 24 March 2020.

For an in-house team, that means demand notices must be routed to legal on the day they arrive, wherever in the company they land, and the response deadline logged at once. A dispute recorded in correspondence before the notice, linked to the contract it arose under, is far easier to evidence than one reconstructed afterwards.

NCLT deadlines and what changed in 2026

Appeals against NCLT orders go to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Under section 61 of the Code, an appeal against an insolvency order must be filed within thirty days, with at most fifteen more days allowed for sufficient cause. Under section 421 of the Companies Act, an appeal against other NCLT orders must be filed within forty-five days from the date a copy of the order is made available, extendable by up to forty-five days for sufficient cause. Section 238A of the Code applies the Limitation Act, 1963, as far as may be, to proceedings before the NCLT and NCLAT.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2026 received assent on 6 April 2026. According to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, most of its provisions came into force on 26 May 2026. Among other changes, it requires the NCLT to record reasons where it does not decide a section 9 application within fourteen days, directs the NCLAT to dispose of appeals within three months, and allows a penalty of ₹1 lakh to ₹2 crore for frivolous or vexatious insolvency proceedings. NCLT case status, cause lists and certified copies are available through the tribunal's e-filing portal.

What should a register hold for these matters?

Most of what an in-house team needs is the same as for any litigation, but these forums add statutory fields worth capturing on every file. IntelloSync's litigation module, IntelloCase, is one way to hold this record, with a matter lifecycle and a hearing calendar covering dates, adjournments and deadlines; a well-kept register in any tool can do the same if it holds:

• Forum and tier, with the case number from e-Jagriti or the NCLT portal and the bench.
• For consumer matters: consideration paid, amount claimed, product or service, and whether the complainant may be outside the definition of consumer.
• Date the cause of action arose, date of notice received, and any response deadline.
• For IBC matters: date the demand notice was received, the ten-day response date, the response sent, and the contract and dispute record it relies on.
• Date of each order, the appeal deadline, the pre-deposit amount where applicable, and the decision to comply, settle or appeal.
• Owner, outside counsel, and a current exposure assessment for finance.