This paper examined the opinion of advocates/ legal experts towards problems and remedies for smooth functioning of Consumer Forums under Consumer Protection Act in Haryana. Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (CPA) provides the facility of defending the complaint directly by self or through advocates. But due to several reasons, it is imperative for consumers and defending parties to hire the services of advocates/ legal experts to plead at the Consumer Forum. Advocates/legal experts are directly aware of the problems of consumer forums and can suggest suitable and specific remedies to solve the problems which hinders the functioning of consumer forums. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The sampling unit was advocates/ legal experts who plead at Consumer Forum. Convenience cum purposive sampling was adopted for selecting respondents. The sample size was 50 respondents. A questionnaire was prepared for primary data collection. Various statistical tools and techniques viz. average, ratio, standard deviation, percentage, one sample t-test, Chi Square Goodness of Fit Test, Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS) and Factor analysis using Principal Component Analysis used to analyze the data. It was concuded that smooth functioning of Consumer Forum was influenced by three underlying factors i.e. 'administrative hindrances' at forums, 'HR problems' at forums, and 'work environment' of forums. Several remedies were also suggested by advocates to solve the problems at consumer forum. The study has implications for policymakers to enhance the effectiveness of Consumer Protection Act and amend the Act to improve the quality of justice to consumers.
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