New Delhi: The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) successfully helped in carrying out refunds worth Rs 2.72 crore in the month of July 2025, addressing 7526 consumer grievances across as many as 27 sectors.
Of the total complaints, the e-commerce sector recorded the highest volume of refund-related grievances with 3594 cases, resulting in refunds worth Rs 1.34 crore. The second-highest refund-related complaints were lodged in the travel and tourism sector, which accounts for Rs 31 lakh.
NCH transformation
NCH has undergone technological transformation and has significantly revamped its user interface, which has helped in enhancing its reach and efficiency. The results are evident from these changes, as call volumes have increased more than tenfold from 12,553 in December 2015 to 155,138 in December 2024. Similarly, average monthly complaint registrations have grown from 37,062 to 111,951 in 2024. Additionally, the surge has been observed in WhatsApp grievance registrations, rising from 3 percent in March 2023 to 20 percent in March 2025.
NCH is acting as a unified platform that brings together consumers, government agencies, private sector companies, and regulatory bodies. The number of convergence partners is being expanded steadily from 263 in 2017 to 1131 companies in 2015, strengthening the collaborative redressal mechanism.
NCH Convergence Program
The Department of Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution is monitoring grievance data received through the helpline. Additionally, the department identifies companies with a high volume of complaints that are not part of its flagship convergence program. NCH runs its convergence program in which companies are open to join their grievance redressal framework on a voluntary basis. Once onboarded, NCH shares real-time complaint data with these companies to help resolve the grievance in a free, fair, and expeditious manner before the matter is taken care of by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) or consumer courts.
This collaborative model enhances transparency, corporate accountability, and consumer confidence, while easing the burden on adjudicatory mechanisms. To further promote industry participation, NCH has streamlined the partner-onboarding process, making it fully online, transparent, and user-friendly.
National Consumer Helpline (NCH)
NCH emerged as an effective pre-litigation platform for resolving consumer grievances in India, offering a hassle-free, rapid, and cost-effective alternative grievance redressal mechanism to the traditional litigation method that is costly and time-consuming. It is an initiative of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. It continues to strengthen consumer confidence by ensuring accessible and timely grievance resolution