Application to Execute a Consumer Commission Order

BEFORE THE [commission_name] EXECUTION APPLICATION UNDER SECTION 71 OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 2019 In Complaint No. [complaint_number] [applicant_name] [applicant_address] ... COMPLAINANT / DECREE HOLDER VERSUS [opposite_party] ... OPPOSITE PARTY / JUDGMENT DEBTOR MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH: 1. That this Hon'ble Commission was pleased to allow the above complaint by its order dated [order_date]. 2. THE ORDER DIRECTED [order_terms] 3. That the period allowed for compliance has expired. 4. NON-COMPLIANCE [non_compliance] 5. AMOUNT STILL DUE Rs. [amount_due], together with such interest as the order provides. 6. That no appeal against the said order has been preferred by the Opposite Party, or no stay has been granted, and the order has attained finality and is executable. 7. That the Complainant has called upon the Opposite Party to comply, without result. 8. That an order of this Hon'ble Commission which is not complied with is reduced to a paper decree, and Section 72 of the Act provides for penal consequences precisely to prevent that. PRAYER It is therefore most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Commission may be pleased to: (a) Execute the order dated [order_date] and recover the sums due, if necessary as arrears of land revenue or by attachment and sale of the property of the Opposite Party; (b) Take action under Section 72 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for failure to comply with the order; (c) Award interest and the costs of this application; and (d) Pass such other orders as may be just and proper. AND FOR THIS ACT OF KINDNESS, THE COMPLAINANT SHALL EVER PRAY. Place: ______________ Date: [application_date] [applicant_name] COMPLAINANT ENCLOSURES 1. Certified copy of the order dated [order_date] 2. Proof of service or communication of the order 3. Correspondence calling for compliance ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── WINNING AND BEING PAID ARE DIFFERENT THINGS A surprising number of consumer complainants win and then stop, assuming payment follows. Often it does not, and the order sits unenforced until it is too late to be useful. SECTION 72 IS THE PART THAT GIVES THIS TEETH. Failure to comply with an order of a Consumer Commission is punishable with imprisonment and with fine, and the Commission has the power of a Judicial Magistrate of the first class for the trial of such offences. That is a materially different prospect for a company than a money decree alone, and naming it in the application is not rhetoric. RECOVERY AS ARREARS OF LAND REVENUE is also available, which allows the amount to be recovered through the district administration rather than through further litigation. PRACTICAL POINTS: - FILE PROMPTLY once the compliance period expires. Delay invites the argument that you acquiesced, and makes the money harder to trace. - CHECK WHETHER AN APPEAL WAS FILED, and whether any stay was granted. An unstayed order is executable even while an appeal is pending, and opposite parties sometimes rely on an appeal having been filed as though it were a stay. - IDENTIFY ASSETS. Execution is far more effective when you can point to a bank account, a vehicle or premises. Where the opposite party is a company, its registered office and its bank details from your own earlier payments are the obvious starting points. - INTEREST USUALLY RUNS from the date of the order or from the date specified in it. Claim it; it is often substantial by the time execution is reached. YOU DO NOT NEED A LAWYER for this application, any more than for the original complaint.