Letter to NCDRC GOI to Use Digital Softcopies, RTI NCDRC-R-E-22-00281

I’ve submitted an extract (annexure) in DCDRC concerning the Put-up Petition for Digitization of Legal Document Management (Link), delivered on 20 June 2024. To my understanding, DCDRC mentioned it as a separate petition in their order.

To, The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Government of India, Upbhokta Nyay Bhawan, ‘F’ — Block, GPO Complex, INA, New Delhi — 110023. Tel. №24608801–02;

From, Ratul Aich, (address removed from online copy). Mobile No +91 9738106837, Email — ratulaich@gmail.com, Principal Consultant UX (User Experience), https://www.linkedin.com/in/ratulaich

In response to the RTI reply received from the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission GoI, No NCDRC/R/E/22/00281, Dated 03/11/2022 with respect to Consumer Forum Reference No of two lawsuits A22090004397 case no CC/353/2022 and A22080005770 case no CC/354/2022.

Hello Everyone,

The use of hard copies instead of soft copies results in Judiciary’s incompetence and is obsolete in many facades in a Digitally Tech Savvy Society with the rising number of digital-related cases. Requesting National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission GoI to take cognizance of utilizing soft copy documents uploaded on the eDaakhil portal by the Judge.

Please circulate a copy of this write-up to your judiciary academia and thought leaders peer group. People need to look at their advantage in my cause to extend it from their aspect.

In response to the RTI received from the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission for Digitalization of Consumer Court to efficiently entertain thrifty amount online case filing and advocating from the comfort of the home such that service providers can’t exploit thrifty amount cases where the victim most likely avoids complaining given the hassle around the lengthy complex procedures, spending almost equal to the appealed loss amount in printing, copying, and posting a heap of hardcopy documentation and repeated follow-through appearances. I don’t know why a higher hierarchy department National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has shown such a knee-jerk attitude asking me to make the complaint to the district-level consumer court as ultimately the decision-making power holds with the national commission and the funds, which will be released from the national commission. I spent a lot on traveling to the notary office to notarize, submit soft copies and file the case in Consumer Court through the eDaakhil portal, in the hope that filing online would save me the cost of printing a heap of hard copies which will end up costing more than the disputed amount itself but to my misfortune, the judge asked me to print all the documents and submit them in hard copy. Then why do we have the eDaakhil portal? In such a case we can print the hardcopy and submit it directly by walk-in to the consumer court saving on the notarized cost because a notary doesn’t require walk-in submissions best to my knowledge. The Judge didn’t even bother to take a look at the eDaakhil soft copies even on humble request. Such a practice is a clear way to discourage citizens to file thrifty amount petitions in consumer court which benefit the service providers to continue malpractice and exploit consumers for the thrifty amount in a large volume of cases.

Drawbacks of a heap of hard copies in the digital era of tech-savvy society.

Digitization and digitalization in the last 3 decades have reduced the cost of products and services considerably. On the other hand, it has boosted consumerism. As a yardstick to compare, think about the plenty of applications a person is using on their mobile. The maximum number of transactions is low-value transactions. Judiciary can’t treat the large volume of thrifty amount cases in the same way it treats cases with higher denominations in the age of digitalization. Digitalization has brought a large number of products and services to our disposal for minimal cost. In other words, we have become the paid consumer (customers) and unpaid users of a large number of products and services. Companies are rapidly scaling (scalability) with growth hacking in the age of Digitalization. It means the volume of malpractices and exploitation is happening at a rampant pace either. The new businesses open their shop, grow the business, and end up with merger and acquisition or bankruptcy, all within 5 years period leaving behind a ‘class’ of exploited victims. This is the reason, the digitalization of courtrooms and class action lawsuits are the need of the hour in the Indian Judiciary at the district consumer forum level. Printouts results in increasing the overall cost of litigation which discourages complainants with thrifty disputed amounts to find justice because the cost of the heap of hardcopies itself exceeds the disputed amounts. A considerably reduced number of complaints of thrifty amounts in today’s era of consumerism encourages the service providers to continue malpractice and exploitation of thrifty amounts in India. An effortless and speedy resolution of consumer disputes by digitalized consumer forums will regulate the ‘thrifty amount’ consumer goods and services market raising the safety standards of such goods and services that will improve the overall social security state and national rating. The regulations will compel the companies to invest in Ph.D.-level research and innovation in the field of Usability Testing and other safety standards thus providing jobs to the Scholarly Class in the country.

Colors hold a very important aspect in the science of visual communication. Colors are responsible for defining proximity and alert intimation among many other factors in mobile applications as the Gestalt Principles describe. General printouts have a naturally poor resolution as compared to high-resolution on-screen visuals like screenshots which results in decreased minute scrutiny capability and running AI-based image and text assessment in case it is needed in a rising number of digital-related cases as the society in the last decade has transformed into a digitally tech-savvy society where almost every service is committed through digital interfaces by mobile, IoT screens, and ubiquitous computing. Printouts can’t be digitally searched. Soft copies’ quick digital search capability in PDF Reader and Document Reader directly adds to the efficiency of the court’s processing time. Replication of printouts is a hassle. Digital copies can be replicated by a stroke of the button ctrl C + ctrl V. Complications in interoperability and mobility of hardcopy documents by India Post courier services to multiple stakeholders add to the cost incurred by the Government of India burdening the Taxpayers of India. Switching to the primary use of softcopies will enhance digital mobility by email and add to the increasing revenue of the treasury of GoI. Furthermore, moving from hard copy to soft copy as the primary mode of communication for the volume of thrifty cases by the judiciary will add to carbon credits. The GoI statistical department needs to carry out a statistical analysis to estimate the improvement in carbon credits rating due to this transformation in participation with the ministry of environment and forests. Digitalization may also earn the Office of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission an environment-friendly accreditation. Softcopies as the primary mode of communication by the judiciary could be streamlined by platforms like IBM Watson which can be effectively used to fast-track insurance ombudsman and consumer court’s thrifty amount but volumes of lawsuits every day.

The RTI reply received from the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission GoI, No NCDRC/R/E/22/00281, Dated 03/11/2022 with respect to Consumer Forum Reference No of two lawsuits A22090004397 case no CC/353/2022 and A22080005770 case no CC/354/2022 is as follows.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/V4DpW5k94cmnxJ2y7

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Government of India, Upbhokta Nyay Bhawan, ‘F’ — Block, GPO Complex, INA, New Delhi — 110023, Tel. №24608801–02; Fax №24651505
No.NCDRC/R/E/22/00281 dated 03/11/2022
To the CPIO/Registrar, West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Kreta Suraksha Bhaban, Ground Floor, 11A, Mirza Galib Street, Kolkata — 700087.

Sir/Madam,

I am transferring herewith RTI application dated 03/11/2022 of Shri, Ratul Aich, 203, Yasree Sundaram, 15/9 Midland Place, Rahara, Khardah, North 24 Parganas — 700 118, West Bengal, under Section 6 (3) (ii) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, which has been received online vide No.NCDRC/R/T/22/00281 dated 03/11/2022, as the information sought for by the Applicant pertains to Distt. Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, 24 Parganas, Kolkata. Therefore, you may kindly furnish the information to the Applicant, directly.

Yours faithfully,
(M. Durga Devi), Assistant Registrar, [Nodal Officer], Phon no. 011–24608724

Encl: As above.

Copy to: Shri, Ratul Aich, 203, Yasree Sundaram, 15/9 Midland Place, Rahara, Khardah, North 24 Parganas — 700 118, West Bengal. Your RTI application pertains to Distt. Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, 24 Parganas, Kolkata. We have transferred the same to the Kolkata State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, West Bengal. Hence, you may approach the State Commission, West Bengal for further query, if any.

(M. Durga Devi), Assistant Registrar, [Nodal Officer], Phon no. 011–24608724

Here follows the actual content of the RTI that I filed with the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission GoI.

RTI NCDRC/R/E/22/00281

Hello Everyone,

How can I use the law help to capacitate the eDaakhil online hearing in District Consumer Forum North 24 Parganas? The eDaakhil portal is accepting the online petition for the district consumer forum North 24 Parganas yet the district forum is not functioning online. I walked into the District Consumer Forum located in Barasat N24PGS on 17 Oct 2022 to find out the status of my online consumer court lawsuit filed through the eDaakhil portal after waiting for over 2 months in the hope of receiving an update. Consumer Forum eDaakhil Reference No of two lawsuits are A22080005770 and A22090004397. Ritesh Adhikari an official in the district consumer forum told me that the eDaakhil guidelines of the Central Government are not followed by the West Bengal State government. Hence, I need to submit 3 sets of hard copies of the case and then appear in court physically on the date of the hearing. The irony is that the total cost of the 3 sets of hard copies of all the documents including conversations with various parties, postal charges, and traveling charges turns out to be more than the cost of the disputed thrifty amount, thus instigating thrifty amount goods & service providers to continue malpractice. I have sent the notarized affidavit and petition original copies by registered post RW956540173IN. In view of global sustainable environmental and go green initiatives, I would request the consumer forum to collect the electronic copy of all the associated documents from the eDaakhil portal.

North 24 Parganas District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission located in Maya Bhavan (1st Floor), 2, Barrackpore Road, PO Nabapally, Distt. 24 Pgs. (N), Barasat, 700126.

I’ve also sent the following email to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs which manages the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and the Jago Grahak Jago department.

mic.cad-wb@nic.in, prsecy.cad-wb@bangla.gov.in, confonet-info@nic.in, piyush.goyal@gov.in, environmentwb@gmail.com, psecy.env-wb@gov.in, Secy-ca@nic.in, sahnk@cag.gov.in

Subject — eDaakhil consumer forum cases not progressing, on Tue, Oct 18, 11:10 AM

Hello Everyone,

We should think of getting away with 3 sets of hard copies required in the consumer forum for filing a lawsuit and instead activate the eDaakhil portal in N24PGS for paperless consumer dispute resolution for the sake of the environment.

I walked into the District Consumer Forum located in Barasat N24PGS on 17 Oct 2022 to find out the status of my online consumer court lawsuit filed through the eDaakhil portal after waiting for over 2 months in the hope to receive an update. Consumer Forum eDaakhil Reference No of two lawsuits are A22080005770 and A22090004397. Ritesh Adhikari an official in the district consumer forum told me that the eDaakhil guidelines of the Central Government are not followed by the West Bengal State government so I need to submit 3 sets of hard copies of the case and then appear in the court physically on the date of the hearing. The irony is that the total cost of the 3 sets of hard copies of all the documents including conversations with various parties turns out to be more than the cost of the disputed thrifty amount, instigating thrifty amount goods & service providers to continue malpractice. I noticed a couple of rooms filled with a heap of files which is astonishing to witness in the vicinity of metropolitan Kolkata as the State Gov and Central Gov are aggressively promoting Digital startups. The hard copies documents could be a potential digital transition business opportunity for the upcoming Startup Bengal State Gov initiative and tech corporations moving into the state. A combination of manual digitization of godowns full of hard copies will generate job opportunities in BPO and automated digitization will create job opportunities in Machine Learning. An effortless and speedy resolution of consumer disputes by digitalized consumer forums will regulate the ‘thrifty amount’ consumer goods and services sector. The enforcement of regulations will compel the companies to invest in Ph.D.-level research and innovation in the field of Usability Testing and other Safety standards thus providing jobs to the Scholarly Class in the State of West Bengal. Therefore it will raise the safety standards of goods and services that will improve the state and national social security rating. Digitalization may also earn the Office of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission an environment-friendly accreditation from the Ministry of Environment. I’d request the ministry to activate the eDaakhil portal such that all citizens can harvest the benefit of speedy resolution of consumer disputes from the comfort of their homes.

North 24 Parganas District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission located in Maya Bhavan (1st Floor), 2, Barrackpore Road, PO Nabapally, Distt. 24 Pgs. (N), Barasat — 700126.

Regards,
Ratul Aich

First in the series is Judicial Investigation Friendly Digital Systems, Judibility. (Link)

Previous in the series is Specifying Misrepresentation and Falsification on 2 July 2024 Order of CC-353–2022. (Link)

Next in the series is, Questionnaires by HDFC ERGO in CC-353–2022. (Link)