How to file a consumer complaint against Amazon, Flipkart or any online store

Online shopping disputes are one of the most common reasons people look up how to file a consumer complaint against online shopping in India, and the process is more structured than most buyers realize. Here is the full path, in order.

Step 1: use the platform's own grievance officer first

Under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, every e-commerce platform operating in India must appoint a grievance officer and publish their contact details. That officer has to acknowledge your complaint within 48 hours and resolve it within one month. Most platforms bury this contact a few clicks deep in their help pages, but using it first matters: it creates a dated record that you tried to resolve things before going to a commission, which strengthens your eventual complaint.

Step 2: hold onto the right evidence

Screenshots of the product listing, the order confirmation, payment proof, delivery or non-delivery records, and every message exchanged with customer support. Save these as you go rather than after deciding to file, because support chat histories on some platforms disappear after a resolved ticket is closed.

Step 3: work out who you can actually name

E-commerce disputes often have more than one possible opposite party. If the platform sold the item itself, or through a seller it owns, the platform is directly liable. If an independent seller used the platform as a marketplace, both the seller and, in many cases, the platform can be named, since the e-commerce rules place obligations on marketplaces too, not just on the seller behind the listing. Naming both is usually the safer choice; the commission decides who actually pays.

Step 4: file in the commission nearest to you, not the seller

One of the more consumer-friendly parts of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is Section 34: you can file where you live or work, not only where the opposite party is based. You do not need to travel to the seller's city or the platform's registered office to get a hearing.

Step 5: know what you can actually claim

A consumer complaint can ask for a refund, a replacement, compensation for the loss or inconvenience caused, and the cost of pursuing the complaint itself. Where you file depends on the value of the goods or services you paid for: up to Rs 50 lakh goes to the District Commission, Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore to the State Commission, and above Rs 2 crore to the National Commission. Most online shopping disputes fall well within District Commission territory, and there is no filing fee at all for claims up to Rs 5 lakh.

Watch for dark patterns, they strengthen your case

The Central Consumer Protection Authority's 2023 guidelines specifically call out practices like fake urgency timers, hidden subscription renewals and forced account creation to complete a purchase. If any of these were part of how you were sold the product, mention them. They are now recognized as unfair trade practices in their own right, on top of whatever went wrong with the product itself.

Timeframes you can expect

A grievance officer has 48 hours to acknowledge your complaint and one month to resolve it, so give that window a chance to work before escalating. If a platform does not even acknowledge the complaint within 48 hours, note the date, since that failure is itself evidence that the platform is not meeting its own legal obligations under the e-commerce rules, which only helps your eventual case. Once you file formally, a District Commission typically disposes of straightforward complaints within a few months, though contested ones with a lawyer on the other side can take longer.

If the problem is a subscription you cannot cancel, or a price you did not agree to

Dark patterns deserve a specific mention because they are easy to dismiss as "just how the app works." A subscription that auto-renews without a clear, separate confirmation, a discount that only appears once you try to leave the checkout page, or a delivery fee added after you have already entered your payment details, are all unfair trade practices under the CCPA's 2023 guidelines. Screenshot the flow as it happened, since these patterns are often changed or removed once a company notices someone is building a case around them.

Jagrik AI drafts the grievance-officer notice and the formal complaint from the same intake conversation, so you do not have to write both separately. If the amount involved is large enough to justify it, our lawyer marketplace can also connect you with an advocate who takes it from there.

Jagrik AI helps you prepare and file a consumer complaint. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice for your specific case. For a dispute above a few lakh rupees, or one where the other side has already lawyered up, talk to an advocate.