CASE
Asia

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By creating a unique para-legal network comprising of law students across India, who shall resolve consumer complaints and fight cases in Consumer Forums, we are sowing the seeds of consumer activism in the country.

Standings & Awards

15 out of 1313 in Asia
3 out of 117 in Human Rights
16 out of 935 in Design
15 out of 1066 in Blended
45 out of 4003 Overall
CASE: Consumers Awareness and Solutions Enterprise - Leveraging the power of youth in consumer activism!

There is an acute lack of consumer justice in India. Minimal awareness about consumers rights and available redressal mechanisms result in manufacturers and service providers continuing to take consumers for granted. In 2003, worms were discovered in a particluar make of chocolate, and in 2006, pesticides were found in a brand of cola. These problems persist mainly due to lack of organized community support, fear of lengthy court processes and high costs of litigation which act as barriers to access to justice.

Our agency is a service provider which aims to bridge the gap between consumer grievances and legal consumer redressal in India. By creating a unique para-legal network across India, which shall resolve complaints, we are sowing the seeds of consumer activism in the country.

We are choosing to fight for consumer justice because of its urgent need in India, as well as the legal framework which doesn’t require an advocate to fight a case in a consumer court. We are different from any other lawyer or firm because of the differential costs at which we operate: the NO-WIN-NO-FEE format, which is unheard of in India: We don’t charge even a rupee unless we deliver. Since we can’t guarantee success, our innovation comes with an inherent warranty – no loss even in the worst case scenario. When the case is resolved successfully by us, through court/mediation/negotiation processes, we charge a nominal 7% of the compensation received by our client for middle and high income groups, and NO FEE charged for low income groups and below poverty line beneficiaries. 


 

Support Your Idea Optional (5 - 7 minutes for three uploads)

Supporting Document: 

Roadmap to Success Optional (1 - 3 minutes to upload)

Roadmap to Success: 

FIVE PROJECT QUESTIONS Required (60 - 90 minutes)

1. What is your innovation? 
We are building a unique network of law students across the country through our website database. This is developing a para-legal network in the country, which though highly needed was not yet available. Advantage: A para-legal can operate at a differential cost from a regular lawyer, whose fees act as a barrier to accessing justice. Our No Win – No Fee model, another first in India, will try to reduce apprehensions about high costs of litigation; i.e we won't charge anything unless we deliver.
2. Who gains the most? 
Consumers. Why: (a) SAVED COSTS: In India, consumer justice agencies charge you whether or not your complaint is resolved. We won't charge consumers until their complaint is resolved successfully, that too at a very nominal cost. (b) SAVED TIME: We take care of consumer problems from the start to the finish. If they want their case to reach the consumer court, we represent the consumers over there, unlike any other service provider in this field who only provide out-of-court support.
3. Who pays? 
Our model's USP is that it can operate at extremely low start-up costs. Costs for developing the website, have been borne by the founders. The only other seed funding we need is to advertise ourselves among the public - NGOs and bona fide individuals are interested. As of now we are trying low cost options like social media for publicity. Daily operating costs are borne by the income received from resolved cases. Since we are an NPO, the income goes entirely into scaling CASE
4. What is your success? 
In 12 months, we will impact lives of consumers across 8 states. Consumer grievances on the whole can be expected to substantially deteriorate over 5 years. As we earn popularity, the quality of products and services provided shall improve, for fear of incurring conspicuous legal consequences - a deterrence which will lower corruption rates. Since, law students are an intrinsic part of this project, we shall create a large network of confident and socially responsible youth in India.
5. How will you do it? 
A virtual database of about 60 law students from 5 law schools is being created. More will be added to this as we grow. Depending on the customer's location, we will assign cases to our legal representatives. They will call up the companies/service providers, negotiate, try to arrive at settlements and if all else fails, take the cases to the specially designated consumer courts of India, where you don't need to be a lawyer to fight a case. In this they are mentored by legal experts.