The Consumer Protection Act 2019, as enacted, gave the District Commission matters up to a crore, the State Commission up to ten crores, and the National Commission everything above. Those figures are now obsolete.
The Rules notified on 30 December 2021 reduced them substantially. A District Commission now hears complaints where the consideration paid does not exceed fifty lakh rupees; a State Commission, above that and up to two crores; the National Commission, above two crores.
The second change matters more and is noticed less. Jurisdiction is calculated on the consideration actually paid, not on the compensation claimed. Under the old Act a lawyer could inflate a modest claim with a large figure for mental agony and lift the matter into a higher forum. That route is closed, and complaints drafted on the old habit are being returned.
Section 34(2)(d) cuts the other way, and generously. A complainant may now file where he resides or personally works for gain, not merely where the opposite party carries on business. For a consumer in a small town suing a company headquartered eight hundred kilometres away, this is the most useful provision in the statute.
Between them these two changes redraw the map of where a complaint should go. It is worth ten minutes with the figures before drafting, and a great deal of wasted time if it is skipped.
What clients want to know
What is the limitation for a consumer complaint?
Two years from the date the cause of action arose, with power to condone delay on sufficient cause shown.
Does a large compensation claim move the matter to a higher forum?
No, not since the 2019 Act. Only the consideration actually paid counts.
General commentary on Indian practice, not advice on any particular matter. Law and procedure differ between states and change over time.