Supreme court has time and again warned against misuse of consumer jurisdiction to harass DOCTORS who provide valuable service to society.

1. Step-by-Step Guide To Deal
with
Consumer Forum Notice
DR. SHARDA JAIN
Dr. Arvind Narayan
Dr. Jyoti Bhasker
Dr. Gaura Agarwal
Dr. V.K. Goyal
Dr. Neelu Gandhi

2. Supreme court has time and
again warned against misuse of
consumer jurisdiction to harass
DOCTORS who provide valuable
service to society.

3. As provided under S.24 of Consumer
Protection Act, a complaint has to be filed
within 2 YEARS from the date on which
cause of action arises.

4. Where to file a complaint
A complaint should be filed in
• District Forum, up to 20 lakh.
• State Commission up 1 crore .
• National Forum over one crore
depending on the quantum of amount
involved and within the limits of jurisdiction.

5. How to file a complaint
A complainant should contain the following
information.
• Name and description and address of the complaint.
• Name, description and address of the opposite party or
parties.
• The facts relating to complaint and when and where it arose.
• Documents, if any, in support of the allegation contain in
the complaint.
• The relief which the complaint is seeking.
A complainant or his authorised agent should sign the
complaint.

6. Admission and rejection of
Litigation
Consequent to amendment of the Act.
Section 12 (3) of the Act provides that a
complaint should be admitted or rejected
within 21 days of filling of a complaint.

7. Notice from forum
First a copy of the admitted complaint has to
be sent within 21 days from the date of
admission to the opposite party directing him
to give his version of the case within a period
of
THIRTY DAYS
which many be extended to
FORTY FIVE DAYS.

8. • Is the receipt of a notice
from a consumer forum;
along with the demand of
several lakhs of rupees as compensation ---
comes as a rude shock and often triggers off
a cause of panic reaction among DOCTORS
REAL BLOW TO THE EGO OF A DOCTOR

9. • It is thus only appropriate that we
acquire a better understanding of
the further course of action based
on the working system of the consumer
fora and of past MEDICAL cases.
Towards this
objective,
a step-by-step guide is
presented herewith.
STEP BY STEP GUIDE

10. • Immediately note down the DATE
on which you received the Notice.
Also note from which Forum it has
come –District,
State or
National*.
This importance of noting
The DATE Notice
Reply has to go within
30 days of receipt of it.
DATE OF RECIEPT

11. • To avoid confusion, you should
know clearly note
the DATE
by which
you must file your reply
so that
your reply does not get time-barred.
DATE OF REPLY

12. Read it carefully and try to
understand what are the main
allegations against you.
A COPY OF COMPLAINT
OF THE PATIENT USUALLY ACCOMPANIES
THE
NOTICE FROM THE CONSUMER FORUM.

13. The day you go to Consumer Forum
A copy of complaint is given to you
THE 30-DAY PERIOD
will start only after you
receive a copy of the complaint.
IN CASE A COPY OF THE COMPLAINT
DOES NOT ACCOMPANY THE NOTICE,

14. • This reply is MOST IMPORTANT
and should
be drafted carefully and after great
deliberation.
It should be framed in consultation with
EXPERTS &ELDERS OF YOUR SPECIALITY &
an COMPETANT ADVOCATE.
THE COMPLAINT WILL HAVE TO BE
REPLIED AND SUBMITTED TO THE
FORUM WITHIN THE STIPULATED PERIOD.

15. • Is happy to announce this facility to you
FREE OF CHARGE
• Every Wednesday
• 3—4 PM
• AT 11 GAGAN VIHAR
• LIFECARE CENTRE
MEDICO-LEGAL CELL OF
MEDICOLEGAL FOUNDATION &
AMC Delhi/NCR

16. ADVOCATE SELECTION
• The next task is to appoint
an advocate and this is
as important as
a patient selecting
HIS OR HER DOCTOR.
THE ADVOTE SHOULD BE COMPETANT,&
SHOULD HAVE TIME FOR YOU

17. • This can be done through the
AMC Medico- legal Cell. Or else you
can select any advocate whom you
know and trust.
ADVOCATE SELECTION

18. • YOU HAVE TO INFORM INSURANCE CO.
about notice &send copy of complaint as well along
with name of the advocate. Insurance company
will give you the number of you case showing &
admitting the acknowledgement that the legal fee
will be paid by them.
Preferably it should be sent by email
Your agent should help you in this regard.
IF YOU ARE INSURED UNDER THE
PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY
POLICY

19. INSURANCE Co… NEED TO KNOW THE DETAILS
OF APPOINTED ADVOCATE
• Remember to inform insurance company name of
advocate.
• Ask to your claim to registered directly by E-
mail or through Your agent presently as legal costs is
to be recovered from them on a re-imbursement of
legal fees.
There are many cases of litigation between AMC India
from the complaint side with insurance companies.
This step is very very important & should not be ignore

20. Having decided upon an advocate, you
must do the following homework:
 Write a detailed account of the whole
story from the time you first set your
eyes on the patient till the present
time To
when you received the Notice.
As far as possible this should be in
non-technical, layman’s language.

21. • You should take enough time
to write YOUR REPLY, trying to recall all
the facts of the CASE Write down everything
including significant
conversations or actions such as oral
threats, or intervention by other persons,
etc.
BE ACCURATE , BE METICULOUS

22. 1.By putting everything on paper you
do not miss out any important issue
2. Once your advocate read through
it he gets a complete picture of whatever
happened – a kind of action replay.
THIS EXERCISE HAS 2 OBJECTIVE.

23. • The advocate will fill up the
gaps in his understanding of the matter
by asking you question when you meet
him personally.
THIS “SHOULD BE SENT TO THE ADVOCATE
EVEN BEFORE YOU MEET HIM SO THAT YOU
DO NOT WASTE TIME IN YOUR PERSONAL
MEETING

24. REPLY ACCORDING TO NUMBERED
PARAGRAPHS
a. Along with this summary you should do
another exercises. Generally the complaint
of the patient, having been prepared by an
advocate, is in the form of numbered
paragraphs.
b. This is extremely important because no one,
can answer these better than you.

25. REPLY ACCORDING TO NUMBERED
PARAGRAPHS
C .Often lots of falsehoods are stated in these
allegations. These must be identified and denied
strongly. Remember, if there are many parties to the
complaint, concentrate only on the
allegations directed to you.
D .Undoubtedly, it makes sense to co-ordinate with the
other “parties”, if any. Answer has to be in non-
technical language as much as possible--should be
sent to the advocate along with the” summary” and a
copy of the Notice received by you
including a copy of the patient’s complaint.

26. The data may be in the form of textbook or journal
references or downloaded from Internet.
All these should be filed in one place so
They are readily available for the ADVOCATE, you
need to reeducate him with
the relevant references and give him
copies if he says so.
CONCENTRATE ON COLLECTING MEDICAL LITERATURE
ON THE APPROPRIATE SUBJECT (S) ARISING FROM
THE CASE, WHICH CAUSED THE CONFLICT.

27. • This is usually in the form AFFIDAVITS and you
should therefore not wait for the last minute.
you should short-list experts in your field who
have sound credentials and will agree to give their
written opinion, expert opinion.
EXPERT OPINION FROM SENIOR, RESPECTED
CONSULTANTS OF YOUR BRANCH ENDORSING
YOUR MANAGEMENT OF THE CASE AND GIVING
THEIR CONSIDERED OPINION IN THE MATTER is
also very important.

28. Final reply by advocate should be
submitted before expiry of 30 days
than reply of notice.
• 3 copy + 1 copy of your reply
• Please get acknowledgement for the same.
• Written statement
• Rejoinder – Another reply from patient to
the forum
• sur – rejoinder – If a copy is send to you back
again, add written statement.

29. IF NOTICE IS SERVED
TO MORE PEOPLE
•No blame game ever helps
• team work and key.

30. Follow up Forum’s preceding up to
final settlement your self
• Follow your case yourself .
• NO ONE CAN BE MORE INTERESTED IN YOU ,
OTHER THAN YOURSELF.

31. Forget the TIME BOUND decision by
the forum
• Final hearing usualy takes 3-4 yrs on an
average.
• Maximum time taken - 26 years
• Your LAWYER-- may raise some legal
issue, Which NEED TO SORTED OUT BY
FORUM

32. ADDRESS
11 GAGAN VIHAR
NEAR KARKARI MORH
FLYOVER DELHI -51
Contact Us
011-22414049
Dr. Arvind Narayan : 9873710770
Dr. Sharda Jain : 9650511339
Dr. Jyoti Bhaskar : 9711191648
Dr. Gaurav Aggarwal : 9811154655
Dr. Ila Gupta : 9819340422
Email : medicolegaldelhi@gmail.com
amcdelhincra2gmail.com