Key Points

New Delhi [India], September 20 (ANI): The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution on Saturday announced the activation of a dedicated category on the INGRAM portal to handle anticipated consumer queries and complaints on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), following the implementation of revised GST charges, rates, and exemptions effective from September 22.

The Department of Consumer Affairs, which comes under the Ministry, has taken this step to align the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) with the Next-Gen GST Reforms 2025 approved during the 56th meeting of the GST Council.

The INGRAM portal was launched as an integrated Grievance Redress Mechanism (INGRAM) for bringing all Stakeholders, such as Consumers, Central and State Government Agencies, Private Companies, Regulators, Ombudsmen and call centres, etc., onto a single platform.

This category features major sub-categories, including Automobiles, Banking, Consumer Durables, E-commerce, FMCG and others, wherein GST-related complaints will be registered.

In preparation for this initiative, an inaugural training session by Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) officials was conducted on September 11 to equip NCH counsellors to handle GST-related queries and grievances effectively.

Recently, a stakeholder consultation meeting was convened under the chairpersonship of the Secretary (Consumer Affairs) on 17.09.2025 with participation from leading e-commerce platforms, representatives of industry associations and consumer durables companies.

During the meeting, participants were urged to pass on the benefits of GST rate reductions on specified goods and services to consumers, the Ministry added.

The helpline will also share data and insights generated from consumer complaints under this sector with concerned companies, CBIC and other concerned authorities to enable timely action under relevant laws.

This initiative is expected to strengthen GST compliance and promote a participatory governance model by empowering consumers to become active stakeholders in fair market practices.

The National Consumer Helpline (www.consumerhelpline.gov.in) has emerged as a single point of access for consumers across the country to register grievances at the pre-litigation stage. Consumers can now lodge their complaints in 17 languages (including Hindi, English, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Nepali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Maithili, Santhali, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, and Manipuri) via toll-free number 1915 or through the Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM).

This omni-channel IT-enabled platform supports multiple registration modes, including WhatsApp, SMS, email, NCH app, web portal and Umang app, providing convenience and flexibility to consumers.

Over the years, NCH has grown into a robust ecosystem collaborating with 1,142 convergence partners till date comprising private companies, regulators, ombudsman and government agencies, thereby enabling centralized and faster grievance resolution.

Each complaint is assigned a unique docket number for transparent tracking and resolution. The platform currently receives over one lakh complaints per month, the Ministry added.

The technological transformation of the NCH has significantly boosted its call-handling capacity. The number of calls received by NCH has grown more than tenfold from 12,553 in December 2015 to 1,55,138 in December 2024.

This exponential growth reflects the rising confidence of consumers in the helpline. Similarly, the average number of complaints registered per month has surged from 37,062 in 2017 to 1,70,585 in 2025. With the introduction of digital modes, nearly 65 per cent of consumer grievances on the helpline are registered through online and digital channels.

- ANI