NLSIU gets 1 crore grant from Consumer Affairs Ministry; Aims to set up online mediation centre, build technical infrastructure

The country’s first national law school, NLSIU Bangalore, has recently received a one crore grant from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to speed up consumer disputes. The grant is in anticipation of the proposed amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, which will require consumer mediation cells to be set up at the national, state and district levels..Prof. Ashok R. Patil, Chair Professor of the university’s Consumer Law and Protection department spoke to Bar & Bench regarding this development. Patil says that the amendment was necessitated by the fact that consumer disputes continue to be plagued by inordinate delays. This is despite the fact that the Consumer Act was legislated to provide quick and effective remedies to consumers through the establishment of the National and State and District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commissions..The truth of the matter is that increasing pendency and slower disposal rates have become an inherent part of the ADR process. And this is not limited to ADR’s alone but to other institutions of dispute redressal. For example, criticisms have also been levelled against the capacity of tribunals to undertake judicial functions. A recent ASSOCHAM report stated that close to Rs. 4 lakhs crores worth of investments are currently held up across various courts and tribunals in the country..However, given the legislative backing with respect to consumer disputes, an online mediation centre may prove to be a far more effective method of dispute resolution. Patil says,.“There are consumers who want to exercise their right to redressal, but don’t have the time. So, this is aimed at those people.”.The centre, which will facilitate dispute resolution through online mediation, will require participants to be well-versed in teleconferencing software like Skype..When asked about the utilisation of the funds, Patil said,.“The grant is for 2 years, and a major part of the funds is being used for technical infrastructure, especially teleconferencing facilities. We are selecting experts who are undergoing mediation skills training. We also plan to have an Advisory Committee, in which a High Court judge will monitor our activities.”.He further added,.“I am visiting mediation centres to have a look at the facilities they have. At present, we may not get many cases, but we want to publicise it and hopefully get more cases in the future.”.Given that national law schools are slowly entering the field of public policy and research, it will be interesting to see how effective the online mediation centre will be.

NLSIU gets 1 crore grant from Consumer Affairs Ministry; Aims to set up online mediation centre, build technical infrastructure

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