Served a consumer court notice: your first 30 days

A registered envelope from a District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission lands at your office. Inside is a complaint from a client you thought had settled for a partial refund months ago, and a consumer court notice giving you a deadline to respond. That deadline is shorter and harder than most operators assume: miss it, and the commission can decide the case without ever hearing your side.

This happens to travel agencies more than most trades: a cancelled departure, a downgraded hotel or a missed transfer reads to a client as "deficiency in service," and that phrase alone is enough to file. If you've just been served, or you're bracing for one after a bad cancellation, the next 30 days decide whether you get to make your case at all.

This post covers what to check first, what your written reply must contain, the paperwork that wins these cases, and the honest maths on settling early versus fighting for years.

The clock starts the day you're served, not the day you open the envelope

The 30-day period runs from the date you (or anyone authorised to receive mail for your agency) receive the notice with the complaint copy attached, not the date printed on it or its first hearing date. An envelope left unopened for a week has already burned a week of your window.

Log the receipt date the day it arrives, before you've even read past the first line. Given how tight the total window is, a few days lost to "we'll deal with it this week" is a mistake you can't get back.

How many days do you get to reply to a consumer court notice in India?

You get 30 days from receipt to file your written version, and the commission may extend that by a further 15 days for good reason. That's 45 days total, and it's a hard ceiling: the Supreme Court has ruled this time limit is mandatory, not something a commission can stretch further no matter how good your reason is (New India Assurance Co. Ltd vs Hilli Multipurpose Cold Storage Pvt Ltd, Supreme Court, 4 March 2020). Ask for the extension early, not on day 29.

That ruling construed the identically worded 30-plus-15-day language in the older 1986 Act, and commissions have carried the same "mandatory, not directory" reading into the matching 2019 Act provision. In most areas of law, a court can excuse a short delay for a decent reason. Here it cannot. Past day 45, the option to file a written version is gone for good.

Careful: Don't assume a sympathetic story buys you time. "Our advocate was travelling" or "we were waiting on the hotel's refund confirmation" are the kind of explanations that work for a general delay-condonation application elsewhere in law. They don't work here. The 45-day ceiling has no exception built in.

What happens if you don't reply to a consumer court notice?

Miss the 45-day window and the commission can proceed ex parte: deciding the case on the complainant's version and documents alone, with no obligation to hear your defence. There's no natural-justice challenge for missing a deadline you were validly served for (New India Assurance Co. Ltd vs Hilli Multipurpose Cold Storage Pvt Ltd).

In practice, an ex parte order usually grants the client's claim in full: refund, compensation and costs, because nothing on record contradicts it. Your cancellation policy, the client's written agreement, any partial refund already paid: none of it reaches the commission if it isn't filed on time. Your only route out afterward is a limited set-aside application or an appeal, both harder and pricier than replying on time.

Before you draft a word: check whether this commission can even hear the case

Before writing a defence, confirm the case is in the right forum. Two things decide that: how much money is in dispute, and where the complaint was filed. Get either wrong and you have a maintainability challenge before arguing the merits.

Pecuniary jurisdiction, based on consideration paid (not consideration plus compensation claimed), currently runs like this, as of August 2026 (commission orders citing the 21 December 2021 notification):

Commission	Handles claims where consideration paid is
District Commission	Up to ₹50 lakh
State Commission	Above ₹50 lakh, up to ₹2 crore
National Commission	Above ₹2 crore

Careful: These bands are under live Supreme Court scrutiny. On 18 August 2026, a bench flagged anomalies in fixing jurisdiction purely on "consideration paid" (a ₹2.5 crore windshield dispute forced into the National Commission, a ₹40 lakh dispute over a costlier asset staying in District), sought the Union Government's response, and listed the matter for 8 October 2026 (LiveLaw, 18 August 2026). Confirm the current bands with your advocate before relying on them.

Territorial jurisdiction has widened since 2019: a complaint can be filed where your agency does business, where the cause of action arose, or where the complainant themselves resides or works for gain (commission orders construing Section 34(2)). That last ground is new: a client who booked from Guwahati can file there even if you operate out of Mumbai. A branch office alone doesn't fix jurisdiction to a district.

One more question worth checking: was the booking for a commercial purpose? Section 2(7) excludes purchases "for any commercial purpose" from the definition of "consumer," which sounds like an opening for a corporate offsite you booked. But the explanation carves that back for anyone buying to earn their own livelihood by self-employment, so a client booking for their own small business is very often still a "consumer." Check this against your actual facts before building a defence on it.

What the written version must actually contain

A written version isn't a reply email or an informal explanation. Commissions treat it as a formal pleading. It should:

1. Respond paragraph by paragraph to the complaint: admitting, denying or explaining each allegation, not one general narrative.
2. Raise maintainability objections, jurisdiction, limitation, consumer status, right at the start, before engaging with the facts.
3. Set out your version with dates, amounts and what was actually agreed, referencing your annexures.
4. Be verified or affirmed, typically by affidavit, by someone authorised to speak for the agency.
5. Be filed within the deadline with the prescribed fee, through the commission's registry or online filing process.

A terms and conditions document your clients actually sign makes step 3 far easier to write, because it gives you a dated record of what was agreed instead of one reconstructed from memory under deadline pressure.

The annexures that actually win these cases

Commissions deciding "deficiency in service" disputes look for paper, not persuasion. Attach what you have, and start building what you don't:

• The signed terms and conditions the client accepted before booking.
• The exact quote or itinerary document the client agreed to, with price and inclusions.
• Supplier cancellation and refund policies referenced in that quote, especially where a hotel or airline's own policy, not yours, drove the refund amount.
• The dated WhatsApp or email trail showing what was asked for, confirmed, and changed along the way.
• Payment receipts and a clear refund calculation.

Agencies with a documented, dated trail do far better than ones relying on "we always tell clients verbally." How commissions actually decide these disputes is worth reading before you assume your version will simply be believed.

Reply to the client's legal notice first, in writing, before the commission ever sees it

Many complaints are preceded by a legal notice from the client's advocate, a chance to resolve things before a complaint is filed. Most agents skip this step, and silence at it is a mistake: in the commission's file, it reads as an agency that had nothing to say.

A pre-litigation reply should be factual and shouldn't admit liability you haven't verified. State what happened and what documentation supports your position, without promising a figure you haven't decided on. A structured reply format for a client complaint letter keeps this on record, rather than a rushed WhatsApp message you can't easily produce later.

Settle on day 3, or fight for two to four years: the honest maths

Fighting a case through to a District Commission decision commonly runs multiple hearings across a year or more, before either side even appeals. Each hearing means an advocate's appearance fee, and travel too, if the case sits in the client's home district. Lose, and appealing to the State Commission requires depositing 50% of the ordered amount just to be heard (Section 41, Consumer Protection Act 2019), within 45 days of the order, a deadline the commission can, unlike the written-version one, condone for sufficient cause.

Example: Say a client claims ₹1,85,000 over a cancelled Bali package. A full contest runs six to eight hearings over 18-24 months, with appearance fees adding up across every date. Lose and appeal, and the 50% pre-deposit alone is ₹92,500. A negotiated refund of, say, ₹1,20,000 offered in week one is very often the cheaper outcome once you run this maths honestly, even where you believe the service wasn't actually deficient.

This isn't an argument to settle every claim reflexively. A well-documented, non-deficient booking is worth defending, but run the comparison on paper, not by instinct.

Can a consumer case be settled out of court?

Yes. The Act provides for Consumer Mediation Cells attached to District, State and National Commissions, and a case can be referred to mediation at any stage while pending, provided both sides consent (Section 74(1), Consumer Protection (Mediation) Rules, 2020). A successful settlement is recorded by the commission and disposes of the complaint without a full hearing.

Ask your advocate whether your commission has a functioning mediation cell before counting on it. Not every state has one fully operational yet.

Common questions

What is the time limit to file a written statement in consumer court?

Thirty days from receipt, extendable by 15 more: 45 days total, and mandatory, with no scope to stretch it further for any reason.

How do I defend a consumer complaint in India?

Check jurisdiction and consumer-status maintainability first, then file a paragraph-by-paragraph written version on time, backed by your signed terms, the agreed quote, supplier policies, the WhatsApp trail, and payment records. A documented, on-time defence beats an eloquent but late one, which is often never heard at all.

Is WhatsApp chat admissible as evidence in consumer court?

Commissions routinely accept WhatsApp and email records as evidence in service-deficiency disputes, particularly to show what was agreed or changed. Keep chats exportable and dated, and check proof requirements with your advocate. A WhatsApp booking confirmation carries more legal weight than most operators assume.

What is the jurisdiction of a District Consumer Commission?

As of August 2026, up to ₹50 lakh in consideration paid, with a valid territorial link to that district. Both the threshold and the "consideration paid" test are under live Supreme Court review, so confirm the current position before relying on jurisdiction alone.

Can a consumer court case be filed against a travel agency?

Yes. A travel agency is a service provider under the Act, and a client who booked for personal use, or their own self-employed livelihood, generally qualifies as a "consumer." Whether a booking for a larger commercial business also qualifies depends on the facts.

The short version

• The 30-day (extendable to 45) window to file a written version starts on the date you receive the notice, not the date printed on it. Log receipt immediately.
• The 45-day ceiling is mandatory. Miss it and the commission can proceed ex parte, usually in the client's favour.
• Check jurisdiction before drafting anything: pecuniary bands (District up to ₹50 lakh, State ₹50 lakh-₹2 crore, National above) are under Supreme Court review as of August 2026, and territorial rules now let a client file from their own home district.
• Build your defence on paper: signed terms, the agreed quote, supplier cancellation policies, dated WhatsApp/email trails and refund calculations, not verbal assurances.
• Reply to any pre-litigation legal notice in writing and on the record before a complaint is even filed.
• Run the settle-versus-fight maths honestly: hearing fees, possible travel, and a 50% pre-deposit to appeal a loss often outweigh an early, negotiated refund.
• Mediation under Section 74(1) is a real option at any stage if both sides consent, but confirm your commission's mediation cell is actually functional first.