New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) The Centre has created a dedicated category on National Consumer Helpline's INGRAM portal for registering complaints related to revised GST rates and their redressal.

The GST Council has reduced the tax rates on various goods and services with effect from September 22.

According to an official statement on Saturday, Department of Consumer Affairs has taken steps to align the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) with the 'Next-Gen GST Reforms 2025' approved during the 56th meeting of the GST Council.

"To address the expected consumer queries and complaints on NCH following the implementation of revised GST charges, rates and exemptions effective from September 22, a dedicated category has been enabled on the INGRAM (Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism) portal," it added.

This category features major sub-categories including automobiles, banking, consumer durables, e-commerce, FMCG and others wherein GST related complaints will be registered.

An inaugural training session by Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) officials was conducted on September 11 to equip NCH counsellors to handle GST-related queries and grievances effectively.

On September 17, a stakeholder consultation meeting was convened under the chairpersonship of Consumer Affairs Secretary with participation from leading e-commerce platforms, representatives of industry associations and consumer durables companies.

During the meeting, the department asked them to pass on the benefits of GST rate reductions on specified goods and services to consumers.

"The helpline will also share data and insights generated from consumer complaints under this sector with concerned companies, CBIC and other concerned authorities to enable timely action under relevant laws," the statement said.

The move is expected to strengthen GST compliance and promote a participatory governance model by empowering consumers to become active stakeholders in fair market practices.

The National Consumer Helpline (www.consumerhelpline.gov.in) has emerged as a single point of access for consumers across the country to register grievances at the pre-litigation stage.

Consumers can now lodge their complaints in 17 languages -- Hindi, English, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Nepali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Maithili, Santhali, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, and Manipuri -- via toll-free number 1915 or through the Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM).

This omni-channel IT-enabled platform supports multiple registration modes including WhatsApp, SMS, e-mail, NCH app, web portal and Umang app providing convenience and flexibility to consumers.

Each complaint is assigned a unique docket number for transparent tracking and resolution. The technology upgrade at NCH has significantly boosted its call-handling capacity.

The number of calls received by NCH has jumped more than ten-fold from 12,553 in December 2015 to 1,55,138 in December 2024.

Similarly, the average number of complaints registered per month has surged to 1,70,585 in 2025 from 37,062 in 2017.

Nearly 65 per cent of grievances on the helpline are registered through online and digital channels. PTI MJH ANU ANU

GST consumer grievance channel established for registering revised rate complaints with multi channel access and agency data sharing. A dedicated category on the National Consumer Helpline's INGRAM portal has been created to register GST complaints arising from revised rates, with major subcategories (automobiles, banking, consumer durables, e commerce, FMCG and others). The initiative includes CBIC-led training for counsellors, stakeholder engagement to ensure benefits are passed to consumers, multi channel and multi language registration, unique docket numbers for tracking, and sharing of complaint data with companies and authorities to enable timely action and strengthen compliance.