Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Goa continues to face challenges in delivering timely consumer justice, with 46 of the 147 cases pending before its State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission remaining unresolved for more than three years. The state has secured the fourth position among nine small states in the Consumer Justice Report 2026, scoring 3.98 out of 10.
Meghalaya leads the category with 5.58 points, followed by Sikkim at 4.72 and Himachal Pradesh at 4.20. Goa’s performance highlights concerns over the time taken to settle consumer disputes and the effective use of resources allocated to the commission.
Of the 147 cases pending in 2025, 60 had been awaiting resolution for between one and three years, while 41 had been pending for less than a year. The 46 cases that had crossed the three-year mark represented 31.3% of the total backlog, underscoring the difficulties faced by consumers seeking timely redressal.
The commission’s disposal record has varied over the years. In 2022, it resolved 180 cases against 177 new filings. The following year, disposals rose sharply to 379, compared with 214 cases received. In 2024, however, the commission disposed of 245 cases against 250 new filings, leaving disposals slightly below fresh registrations.
The report also points to lower spending against the commission’s budget in 2025. Of the ₹5.40 crore allocated, expenditure amounted to ₹3.48 crore, leaving ₹1.92 crore unspent. This translated into a utilisation rate of 64.6%, down from 84% in 2024, when expenditure stood at ₹4.43 crore against an allocation of ₹5.28 crore.
Budget figures show that the commission’s allocation increased from ₹3.44 crore in 2021–22 to ₹5.40 crore in 2024–25. Expenditure during 2021–22 was ₹2.35 crore, amounting to 68.1% utilisation, while spending in 2022–23 reached ₹3.24 crore, with the reported utilisation rate rising to 97.5%.
The Consumer Justice Report 2026 evaluates the performance of consumer dispute redressal institutions using indicators such as case disposal rates, pendency, staffing, financial utilisation and alternative dispute resolution.
While Goa’s ranking places it among the better-performing small states in the assessment, the volume of cases awaiting resolution for years raises questions about the pace of justice delivery.
