The report, submitted by an amicus curiae in a Supreme Court case on vacancies and infrastructure in consumer commissions, counted 22,270 pending cases in district commissions and 4,398 before the state commission. The district backlog has grown by nearly 76% since December 2023, the report said.
District commissions ended 2023 with 12,691 pending cases. The total rose to 16,877 in December 2024, 20,437 in December 2025 and 22,270 by July 2026. During the first seven months of this year, the district bodies received 6,016 cases and disposed of 3,931, leaving more cases unresolved than they cleared.
The state commission showed a different trend: its backlog fell from 4,505 at the end of 2025 to 4,398 by July 31. Over the same seven-month period, it disposed of 675 cases against 571 new filings. One case before the state commission dates to December 11, 1995, according to the report.
The filing also raised concerns about staffing and access to hearings. Two of four sanctioned vacancies at the state commission remained unfilled. Citing the Consumer Justice Report 2026, the amicus curiae said Kerala was among three states without a woman serving as a member or president of the state commission, contrary to the 2020 appointment rules. District commissions lacked video-conferencing facilities, while the state commission reported 5,180 hearings by video conference between January and July 2026.