Telangana Trails in Consumer Justice Rankings Despite Case Clearance Surge
Hyderabad: In a stark revelation from the newly released Consumer Justice Report, 2026, Telangana has been placed at the bottom of the list among India's large and mid-sized states, securing the 19th position with an overall score of just 2.2 out of 10. This poor ranking persists even as the state demonstrated a significant improvement in its case clearance rate, which jumped from 70% in 2021 to 103% in 2025.
Southern States Outperform Telangana in Consumer Redressal
While Telangana languishes at the last spot, its neighboring state Andhra Pradesh emerged as the top performer in the rankings. Other southern states also fared better, with Karnataka securing the 4th rank and Tamil Nadu holding the 11th position. The report, which marks the first comprehensive assessment of consumer dispute redressal systems across the country, evaluated the institutional capacity at both state and district levels.
Key Deficiencies Behind Telangana's Low Score
The report highlighted several critical gaps in Telangana's consumer dispute redressal framework that contributed to its dismal ranking. Notably, the state failed to provide details on cases pending for over three years in the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC). Additionally, Telangana was among eight states that did not submit information regarding their district commissions.
Staffing shortages pose a severe challenge, with the report noting a 100% vacancy in the president's post at the SCDRC. District commissions are also understaffed, facing a 25% vacancy in president positions and a 12.5% vacancy among members. Further impacting the score was the state's inability to provide data on women presidents, members, and staff in the state commission over multiple years, along with missing details on budget allocation, utilization, expenditure, mediation cases, Lok Adalat referrals, and settlements.
Moreover, Telangana has only 12 district consumer commissions to serve its 33 districts, falling short of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 mandate requiring at least one commission per district.
Case Clearance Rate Shows Promising Improvement
Despite the overall low ranking, Telangana's performance in case clearance offers a silver lining. With a case clearance rate (CCR) of 101%, the state ranks fifth among the 19 large and mid-sized states. Tamil Nadu leads this category with a CCR of 114.6%.
The report noted that Telangana is among six states in this group that disposed of more cases than were filed between 2020 and 2024. The others include Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Nationally, all states and union territories disposed of 88.5% of the total 7.64 lakh cases filed during this period.
Telangana's CCR saw a sharp rise after 2022, nearly doubling from that year to 2025 and remaining above 100% for three consecutive years, indicating a positive trend in addressing case backlogs.
Stakeholders Cite Historical and Structural Challenges
D Devender Rao, President of the Bar Association at the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, attributed the state's struggles to inherited case loads from the bifurcation period, judicial appointment delays, and disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed optimism, stating, "Things are being streamlined now. The pendency is being cleared at a rapid pace, and soon Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission will also be at a top position when it comes to redressals."
V Gouri Shankar, honorary chairman of the Confederation of All Telangana Consumer Organisations (CATCO), emphasized the impact of staff shortages on redressal efficiency and pendency. He highlighted the need for additional benches in districts like Ranga Reddy, which faces a high volume of cases. "Recently, 500 cases from the district have been transferred to the Hyderabad commission. In line with Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy also needs one or two more benches," he added.
The Consumer Justice Report underscores the urgent need for Telangana to address its structural and data transparency issues to improve consumer protection outcomes, even as it makes strides in case disposal rates.
