In short. To enforce an unobeyed consumer commission order, file an execution application under Section 71 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 before the commission that passed it, asking for attachment of bank accounts or property under Order XXI CPC. You can also, or instead, file under Section 72, which punishes non-compliance with one month to three years in jail, a fine of ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh, or both.
Winning the case is the half that people plan for. The other half starts when the 30 or 45 days in the order run out and nothing arrives: no demand draft, no possession letter, no reply to your emails. A surprising number of consumer orders are obeyed only after the decree-holder goes back to the commission. Builders, small dealers, coaching centres and travel companies are the usual defaulters. Insurers and banks generally pay, though sometimes late and short.
This post explains the two tools the Act gives you, which one to use first, how to calculate what is owed, and what commissions actually do when a company keeps ignoring them. If you have not yet filed your complaint, start with filing a consumer complaint online on e-Jagriti. If the other side has filed an appeal against your order, read appeal against a District Consumer Commission order alongside this one.
- Execution
- Section 71, Consumer Protection Act 2019, read with Order XXI CPC
- Penalty for disobeying
- Section 72: 1 month to 3 years, ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh fine, or both
- Where to file
- The commission that passed the order
- Appeal against a Section 72 order
- Section 73, within 30 days
- Stay of the order
- Only if the appellate commission grants it, after the 50% deposit
- Time to comply
- As stated in the order, usually 30 or 45 days
The deadline in the order has passed. What happens now?
Nothing happens on its own. A consumer commission does not track compliance after it pronounces an order, so the next step is yours. Once the period for compliance (usually 30 or 45 days from the date of the order or from receiving a copy) has run out, you can apply to the same commission to enforce it.
Read the operative part of the order first, the last few paragraphs that begin "We direct the opposite party to". Note exactly what was ordered: a refund, interest from a particular date, compensation for harassment, litigation costs, replacement of a product, delivery of possession, or something else. Many orders also say that if the amount is not paid within the stated period, interest will run at a higher rate. That clause matters, because it decides the figure you will ask the commission to recover.
Then check how and when the order reached the opposite party. Commissions send copies free of charge to the parties, and the order is also uploaded on the e-Jagriti portal. If the company says it never received the order, that does not cancel it, but it can be used to argue that the compliance period started later. A short written demand sent to the company's registered office and email, enclosing the order, closes that argument before execution is filed.
Has the order become final, or is there an appeal?
Before you file execution, find out whether the opposite party has appealed. An appeal from a District Commission to the State Commission must be filed within 45 days under Section 41, and it is not entertained unless the appellant deposits 50% of the amount ordered. An appeal from the State Commission to the National Commission (Section 51) and from the National Commission to the Supreme Court (Section 67) has a 30 day limit and a similar deposit requirement.
Filing an appeal does not, by itself, stop you from executing the order. What stops you is a stay granted by the appellate commission. In practice, appellate commissions often stay the balance once the 50% has been deposited, sometimes on conditions. If a stay has been granted, execution of the stayed part has to wait, though you can usually ask for the deposited amount to be released to you, with or without security, depending on the appellate order.
You can check the status of any appeal on e-Jagriti by searching the case number of your original complaint or the name of the opposite party. If an appeal was filed after the limitation period with an application to condone the delay, it is still worth executing until a stay is actually granted. Opposite parties sometimes say "appeal is pending" in reply to a demand when no appeal has been filed at all, or when it was dismissed for non-deposit.
The provisions that make a consumer order enforceable
Five provisions do most of the work. Knowing which one you are using keeps the application precise.
Section 71, Consumer Protection Act 2019
Every order of a District Commission, State Commission or the National Commission is enforced by that commission in the same manner as if it were a decree of a court in a suit before it. The provisions of Order XXI of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 apply, as far as may be, with every reference to a decree read as a reference to the commission's order. This is the civil route: it gets you your money or your flat.
Section 72, Consumer Protection Act 2019
Whoever fails to comply with an order of a commission is punishable with imprisonment of not less than one month and up to three years, or a fine of not less than ₹25,000 and up to ₹1 lakh, or both. The commission has the powers of a Judicial Magistrate First Class for trying this offence, and tries it summarily. This is the pressure route: it punishes the disobedience but does not itself pay you.
Section 73, Consumer Protection Act 2019
An order under Section 72 can be appealed within 30 days: from the District Commission to the State Commission, from the State Commission to the National Commission, and from the National Commission to the Supreme Court.
Order XXI, Code of Civil Procedure 1908
The rules for executing decrees. Rule 11 sets out what an execution application must contain. Rule 41 lets the court examine the judgment-debtor about his assets. Rule 46 deals with attachment of debts, which is how a bank account is frozen. Rules 54 and 64 deal with attachment and sale of immovable property. Rules 37 to 40 deal with arrest and detention in civil prison for a money decree, after a notice to show cause. Rules 32 and 35 deal with decrees for doing an act and for delivery of possession.
Sections 41, 51 and 67, Consumer Protection Act 2019
The appeal provisions, each with a deposit of 50% of the amount ordered before the appeal is heard. Their relevance to execution is simple: an appeal without a stay does not stop execution, and the deposited money can often be released to the consumer.
Section 71 or Section 72: which one should you file?
They are separate remedies, and you can use both. The difference is in what each one produces.
| Question | Section 71 execution | Section 72 penalty |
|---|---|---|
| What is it for? | Recovering the money or getting the act done | Punishing the person who disobeyed |
| Does it put money in your hands? | Yes, through attachment and sale | No, the fine goes to the state |
| Against whom? | The opposite party named in the order and its assets | The person who failed to comply; for a company, those responsible for its affairs |
| What can the commission do? | Attach bank accounts and property, examine the debtor on assets, order arrest in civil prison under Order XXI | Summon, issue bailable and non-bailable warrants, convict and sentence |
| How is it tried? | As execution of a civil decree | Summarily, with the commission acting as a Judicial Magistrate First Class |
| Appeal | Orders in execution can be challenged before the higher commission | Section 73, within 30 days |
| Best used when | The opposite party has assets you can identify | The opposite party is solvent but stubborn, or hides assets |
A common sequence is to file execution first, with as much asset information as you have, and to add a Section 72 application if the opposite party ignores notices or keeps seeking adjournments. Where the company is clearly able to pay and is simply refusing, filing both together from the start is often quicker.
How to file an execution application, step by step
The procedure is the same in substance at District, State and National Commissions, though forms and filing counters differ.
Get a certified copy of the order
Apply to the commission's copying section, or download the order from e-Jagriti and confirm whether the registry needs a certified copy. Keep the copy that was sent to you by post, with the envelope, because it shows the date you received it.
Send a final demand
Write to the opposite party at its registered office and email, enclosing the order and stating the amount due as on that date, with the calculation. Give seven days. This is not a legal requirement, but it removes the "we never received it" excuse and sometimes produces payment without a hearing.
Calculate the amount precisely
Work out principal, interest up to the date of filing, compensation and costs, and set out the calculation in a table in the application. Ask for further interest until actual payment. Over-claiming invites objections and delays.
Draft the application with Order XXI details
State the case number, the date of the order, the parties, the relief granted, any appeal and its result, what has been paid, the amount due, and the mode of execution you want: attachment of a named bank account, attachment of a named property, examination of the debtor, or arrest. Support it with an affidavit.
File it before the same commission
File in the commission that passed the order, physically or through e-Jagriti where the commission accepts execution filings online. The registry gives it a separate execution number.
Serve notice and press for the mode of execution
The commission issues notice to the opposite party. On the first date, ask for the specific step in your application, for example a direction to the bank to freeze the account up to the amount due. If the opposite party does not appear, ask for the next coercive step rather than another notice.
Add Section 72 if notices are ignored
If the opposite party stays away or keeps asking for time without paying, file an application under Section 72 against the company and the persons responsible for its affairs. Warrants in a Section 72 case tend to bring people to the commission quickly.
Collect payment and close the file
Payment is usually by demand draft or deposit in the commission, after which the commission releases it to you. Record full satisfaction only after the money has cleared. If payment is partial, say so in writing and continue for the balance.
What should the execution application say?
The application should let the commission act on the first date without hunting through the file. Put the operative directions of the order in a short paragraph, in the commission's own words. Then list what has happened since: the date the order was received, any appeal (with its number and result), any stay, any part payment, and your demand letter.
The most useful part is the relief clause. "Execute the order" asks the commission to do your work. A better clause reads like this: freeze the opposite party's current account number so-and-so at such-and-such bank branch up to the amount due; direct the opposite party's directors to file an affidavit of assets within two weeks; attach the office premises at the stated address; and issue a notice under Order XXI Rule 37 to show cause why the managing director should not be detained in civil prison. Ask for what you can support with facts.
Where do the bank details come from? Often from the case papers themselves: refund cheques that bounced, the account into which you paid instalments, invoices that carry the company's bank details, or GST invoices that show its registered address and branches. A company's master data on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website shows its registered office and current directors. For a builder, the project's registration on the state RERA website usually lists the designated project account.
How much can you recover? Working out the figure
Start with the principal sum ordered, then add interest exactly as the order directs. If the order says 9% per annum from the date of each deposit until realisation, calculate it deposit by deposit. If it says interest at 6% from the date of filing the complaint, and 9% if not paid within 45 days, the higher rate applies from the 46th day only, not from the start, unless the order says otherwise.
Compensation for harassment and litigation costs are usually fixed sums. Some orders direct interest on them too; most do not. Do not add interest that the order did not give, and do not add your own expenses for the execution stage unless you ask the commission for costs of execution separately.
Deduct whatever has already been paid, and apply part payments first to interest and then to principal, which is the normal rule for decrees unless the order provides differently. Show all of this in a table in the application. When Advocate B.K. Singh checks a client's execution figures before filing, the most common error is interest calculated on the full amount from the first payment date, when the client actually paid in instalments over two or three years. That error, either way, is the first thing the opposite party will seize on.
What can the commission do to recover money?
Because Order XXI applies, the commission has the tools of a civil executing court. It can attach a bank account by issuing a prohibitory order to the bank, which freezes the account up to the amount due. It can attach movable property, including vehicles and stock, and immovable property such as an office or unsold flats, and then sell them. It can attach debts owed to the opposite party by third parties. It can call the judgment-debtor, or the officers of a company, to answer questions on oath about what assets exist.
The Supreme Court in Rahul S. Shah v Jinendra Kumar Gandhi (2021) gave directions to make execution faster, including that executing courts should dispose of execution proceedings within six months of filing and can require the judgment-debtor to disclose assets on affidavit. Commissions have relied on these directions in consumer execution too. Ask for an affidavit of assets early; a false affidavit creates its own trouble for the person who files it.
Arrest and detention in civil prison is available for money decrees, but only after notice and an inquiry into whether the judgment-debtor has the means to pay and is refusing. It is rarely the first step. In practice, the step that moves most defaulters is a bank account freeze, because it stops the business from running.
Can a director be arrested if the company does not pay?
Under Section 72, yes, in the sense that a commission can issue warrants against the persons responsible for a company's compliance and can sentence them. Commissions regularly issue bailable warrants, and then non-bailable warrants, against directors of companies that ignore orders. In 2024 the Delhi High Court upheld a commission's power to issue an arrest warrant against a company's director under Section 72, observing that the purpose was to make the company comply rather than to make the director personally liable for the debt.
That last point matters. Section 72 does not convert the company's debt into the director's personal debt. The execution under Section 71 still runs against the company's assets. What Section 72 does is make it uncomfortable for the people in control to keep ignoring the order. Directors who resigned long before the order, or independent directors with no role in day-to-day affairs, can raise that defence, and the commission will consider it.
For a proprietorship, the proprietor is the opposite party, so both execution and penalty run against the individual directly. For a partnership firm, partners are generally liable for the firm's obligations, and their personal assets can be reached in execution, subject to the order and the facts.
When the order is not about money: possession, repair or replacement
Some orders direct the opposite party to do something: hand over possession of a flat with an occupancy certificate, execute a conveyance deed, replace a defective vehicle, return original documents, or restore a service. These are executed under the Order XXI rules for decrees for doing an act or delivering possession, which allow attachment of the defaulting party's property and, where needed, detention.
Possession orders against builders are the hardest to execute, because the commission cannot build the flat. If the flat exists and the builder is withholding it, the commission can direct delivery and, in a suitable case, appoint someone to carry out the act at the builder's cost. If the flat does not exist or the project has stalled, it is often better to ask the commission (or the appellate commission, if the order is still open) to convert the relief into a refund with interest. Whether that conversion is possible at the execution stage depends on the order's wording, so read it closely before choosing.
Flat buyers with a stalled project also have the RERA route, and the choice between forums has its own consequences, discussed in RERA or consumer court for a flat buyer. If you already have a consumer order, do not start a parallel RERA case for the same relief without advice; the builder will argue you are pursuing the same claim twice.
A made-up example: the refund order a builder ignored
Here's a made-up example. Ritu paid ₹38 lakh to a builder for a flat in Ghaziabad between 2019 and 2021. Possession never came. She filed a complaint before the District Commission, Ghaziabad, which in 2025 ordered a refund of ₹38 lakh with 9% interest from each date of deposit, ₹1 lakh compensation and ₹25,000 costs, payable within 45 days, failing which interest would run at 12%.
The builder filed an appeal before the UP State Commission on the 44th day but did not deposit 50%. The appeal was not entertained. Sixty days after the order, nothing had been paid. Ritu sent a demand letter with a calculation, then filed an execution application with a table showing each instalment, interest at 9% up to the 45th day and at 12% after that, and the fixed sums. She attached the builder's RERA registration page, which listed the project bank account, and a copy of an old refund cheque drawn on another account.
On the first date the builder did not appear. The commission issued a prohibitory order to both banks. Two weeks later the builder's counsel appeared, offered payment in six instalments and asked for the freeze to be lifted. Ritu agreed to three instalments with the freeze continuing until the first was paid. When the second instalment was late, she filed a Section 72 application against the company and its two directors, and the balance arrived before the next date. This is an illustration, not a prediction: every commission and every builder behaves differently.
The delaying tactics you will hear, and how commissions respond
"The appeal is pending." Ask for the appeal number and check it. Without a stay, it is not a ground to stop execution, and commissions say so.
"We have filed a revision." Revision before the State Commission or National Commission is narrow and does not suspend the order unless a stay is granted. The same check applies.
"Payment is under process" or "the cheque is ready". Ask for a date and record it in the order sheet. If the date passes, ask for coercive steps on the next date rather than another adjournment.
"Accept less in full settlement." You can, and sometimes it is sensible, especially where the company is weak and the alternative is years of chasing. But settle in writing, with the amount, the dates and what happens if a date is missed, and record it before the commission so it can be enforced.
"The company has no money." That is a reason for the commission to examine the directors about assets, not a reason to close the file. If the company really is insolvent, the next section applies.
When the opposite party is an insurer, a bank or a government body
Insurers and banks usually comply, because they are regulated and because an unpaid order sits badly with the regulator. Where they delay, it is often because the order is being sent for an appeal decision internally, or because of a dispute about interest. A demand letter to the insurer's grievance officer or the bank's nodal officer, with the order and calculation attached, often resolves it. If it does not, execution works against them like anyone else; freezing a bank's own account is rarely needed, because a notice in execution is usually enough.
Some insurers pay the principal but not the interest, or pay interest only up to the date of the order. Check the receipt against the order. You can execute for the shortfall.
Government departments and public sector bodies that are opposite parties (a development authority, a housing board, a state electricity utility) are executed against in the same way, though attachment of public property raises its own issues. In practice, commissions direct the head of the department to comply and, if that fails, consider Section 72 against the officer responsible.
What if the company has shut down or gone into insolvency?
If the opposite party company is admitted into a corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, the moratorium under Section 14 bars the institution or continuation of proceedings against it, including execution of a decree or order. Your consumer order does not disappear; it becomes a claim. You file it with the resolution professional in the prescribed form, with the order and the calculation, and it is dealt with in the resolution plan or the liquidation. Homebuyers are financial creditors under the Code and file claims in that class.
Watch the public announcement of the insolvency, which gives the last date for claims. Late claims create problems. If you are a homebuyer of a stalled project, read the resolution plan when it is circulated, because it decides what you get. For more on how insolvency affects your claim, see the firm's page on bankruptcy and insolvency advice.
Whether Section 72 penalty proceedings can continue against directors during a moratorium has been argued in several cases, and the position is fact-specific; check the current law before relying on it either way. If the company has simply stopped functioning without any insolvency process, execution against its assets continues, and the examination of directors on assets becomes the main tool. If it has been struck off the register, it may need to be restored before execution can proceed against it.
Mistakes that slow down execution
- Waiting for the company to pay on its own. Months pass, directors resign, accounts are emptied. The Act has no short deadline for execution, but delay helps only the defaulter.
- Filing "execute the order" with no mode of execution. The commission issues notice and the matter drifts. Name the bank, the property, the relief you want.
- Wrong calculation. Interest on the wrong base or from the wrong date leads to objections and an adjournment to file a fresh calculation.
- Not checking for an appeal or a stay. If there is a stay, execution will be adjourned anyway. If there is no stay, say so clearly with proof.
- Accepting a part payment as full settlement by accident. Cashing a cheque sent "in full and final settlement" without protest can be used against you. Reply in writing that it is accepted as part payment only.
- Ignoring the moratorium. If the company is in insolvency, filing or pressing execution wastes time while your claim deadline with the resolution professional passes.
- Losing the original order or receipts. Payment receipts and the original order are the evidence of what is due. Keep them safe and keep copies.
Papers to collect before filing execution
From the case
- Certified copy of the final order (and any appellate order)
- Proof of the date the order was received
- Case number, parties' names and addresses as in the order
- Copy of the original complaint and the payment receipts filed with it
Since the order
- Your demand letter and proof of delivery
- Any reply from the opposite party
- Details of any part payment, with bank entries
- Status printout of any appeal or revision
About the opposite party's assets
- Bank account details from old cheques, invoices or receipts
- Registered office and current directors from the MCA website
- RERA project registration page for a builder
- Addresses of offices, showrooms, unsold units or vehicles you know of
For the application
- Calculation table of principal, interest, compensation and costs
- Affidavit in support
- Vakalatnama if an advocate appears for you
- Identity proof and address for service
Where is execution filed, and how long does it take?
Execution is filed before the commission that passed the order. For an order of a District Commission in Delhi, that is the same District Commission. In Noida and Ghaziabad, it is the District Commission at Gautam Buddh Nagar or Ghaziabad. Orders of the Delhi State Commission or the UP State Commission in their original jurisdiction are executed there, and orders of the National Commission in its original jurisdiction are executed by the National Commission. Where an appellate commission has modified a District Commission's order, ask the registry which commission is taking up execution; practice has varied. Which commission heard the case in the first place depended on the value paid, explained in which consumer commission: pecuniary limits explained.
Time is harder to predict. Where the opposite party is solvent and the account freeze bites, payment can come within one to three hearings. Where assets have to be traced, or the opposite party contests every step, it can take a year or more despite the Supreme Court's six-month direction. Commissions in Delhi NCR carry heavy lists, and dates are often a month or two apart.
You can appear in person in execution, as in the original case. Where the opposite party is a company that is fighting or hiding assets, a lawyer who knows Order XXI practice usually saves hearings. The firm's work in this area is described on the consumer court lawyer in Delhi page and on the wider consumer and competition laws page.
What to do this week
- Read the operative part of your order and write down every amount, rate and date.
- Check e-Jagriti for any appeal or revision filed by the opposite party, and whether a stay was granted.
- Send a written demand with a calculation to the registered office and email, giving seven days.
- Collect whatever bank and asset details you have: old cheques, invoices, the RERA page, the MCA master data.
- Prepare the calculation table, deposit by deposit if you paid in instalments.
- Apply for a certified copy of the order if you do not have one.
- If the opposite party is a company in insolvency, find the public announcement and the last date for claims.
Getting help with an unpaid consumer order
Many decree-holders file execution themselves and succeed. Where the opposite party is a builder or a company that has stopped responding, the choice of mode of execution and the calculation decide how fast the money comes. If you want an advocate to read your order and the opposite party's position before you file, the team of Advocate B.K. Singh at B.K. Singh & Associates can look at the papers and tell you which route to take first. You can send the order through the online legal enquiry form, or read about Advocate B.K. Singh's practice before you write.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if a company does not obey a consumer court order?
You can file an execution application under Section 71 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 to recover the amount through attachment of bank accounts and property. You can also file under Section 72, which makes non-compliance punishable with jail of one month to three years, a fine of ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh, or both.
Is there a time limit for filing execution of a consumer order?
The Consumer Protection Act 2019 does not set a short deadline for execution. Even so, file as soon as the compliance period in the order has passed, because delay gives the opposite party time to move assets, change directors or claim it was never served.
Can I file Section 71 and Section 72 together?
Yes. They are separate remedies: Section 71 recovers what the order gave you, and Section 72 punishes the disobedience. Many decree-holders file execution first and add Section 72 when notices are ignored, but filing both at once is allowed.
Does an appeal stop execution of the consumer order?
Not by itself. Execution stops only if the appellate commission grants a stay, which it usually considers after the appellant deposits 50% of the amount ordered. Without a stay, you can continue with execution.
Can I get the 50% deposited in appeal released to me?
Often, yes. You can apply to the appellate commission for release of the deposited amount, and it may release it with or without security depending on the case. Ask early, because the appeal itself may take a long time.
Can a consumer commission freeze a company's bank account?
Yes. Because Order XXI of the CPC applies, the commission can issue a prohibitory order to a bank attaching the opposite party's account up to the amount due. You need to give the account or branch details in your application.
Can the director of a company be jailed for not following a consumer order?
Under Section 72 a commission can issue warrants against, and sentence, the persons responsible for the company's compliance. The money is still recovered from the company's assets under Section 71; Section 72 does not make the director personally liable for the debt.
What if the builder is under insolvency after the consumer order?
Once the company is admitted into insolvency, the moratorium under Section 14 of the IBC stops execution against it. You file your order as a claim with the resolution professional before the last date in the public announcement, as a financial creditor if you are a homebuyer.
How do I calculate interest for execution of a consumer order?
Follow the order exactly: the rate, the starting date, and any higher rate that applies after the compliance period. If you paid in instalments, calculate interest on each instalment from its own date, and deduct any amount already paid.
Can I file execution of a consumer order online?
Many commissions accept execution applications through the e-Jagriti portal, and all accept physical filing at the registry. Ask the registry of your commission which method it currently uses for execution.
Do I need a lawyer for execution in consumer court?
No, you can appear in person in execution as in the main case. A lawyer helps where the opposite party contests the calculation, hides assets or keeps seeking adjournments, because the choice of execution steps then decides how quickly you are paid.
What if the company offers to pay in instalments?
You can agree, but put the amounts, dates and default consequences in writing and have them recorded before the commission. Keep any account freeze in place until the first instalment is paid, so that the settlement is enforceable if a date is missed.
Written and reviewed at B.K. Singh & Associates
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M., with more than twenty years of practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, district courts and tribunals across Delhi NCR. This article explains the general law as of 24 October 2026; it is not legal advice on your facts.