The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on Thursday said the national consumer helpline (NCH) has achieved unprecedented success in the north-eastern region with Arunachal Pradesh recording a significant surge in consumer grievance registrations and resolutions.

“Among the states in the North-Eastern Region, Arunachal Pradesh has emerged as a standout performer. With 318 grievances in 2020, the state witnessed an exponential rise in the number of consumers reaching out to NCH through various channels leading to 15,860 consumer grievances being registered in 2024,” the ministry said.

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The frontier state, in particular, has witnessed an outstanding growth in this movement, with a significant share of the complaints pertaining to issues in sectors such as e-commerce, telecom services, digital payments, and faulty goods and services, it said.

The ministry said Arunachal Pradesh’s progress highlights growing consumer awareness and trust in the NCH platform, driven by innovative outreach initiatives and technological interventions.

This success reflects the collective outcome of multiple initiatives undertaken by the Department of Consumer Affairs to promote consumer awareness and deliver effective grievance redressal mechanisms in some of the most geographically challenging areas of the country, it said.

Pointing out that the north-eastern states with their unique demographics and socio-economic challenges, have traditionally faced barriers in accessing consumer grievance redressal mechanisms, it said the NCH’s concerted efforts in these states have led to an impressive increase of 300 per cent, escalating from a modest 9,162 grievances in 2020 to 36,609 grievances in 2024.”

The Ministry said the remarkable performance of Arunachal Pradesh can be attributed to several key factors, including localized outreach programs, multilingual support for greater inclusivity, empowered participation of women and digital awareness campaign.

The significant advances in Arunachal Pradesh and the broader North-Eastern Region underscore the department’s commitment to creating an ecosystem where consumers are aware of their rights, have access to reliable grievance redressal mechanisms, and feel empowered to hold businesses accountable, the statement added.