Following concerns being raised by many parties over the alleged delay in addressing the public complaints received by the Consumers Affairs Authority (CAA), the CAA is to decentralise the power of hearing complaints to District offices in order to prevent complaints piling up, The Daily Morning learnt.

It was reported that around 2,000 complaints that were lodged by people with the CAA have been piling up due to a lack of a proper system to address the issues raised by the people. It was also reported that the Legal Aid Commission and the CAA are working together to hear public complaints and provide solutions in order to expedite hearing public complaints.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (10), CAA Chairman, attorney Shantha Niriella said that a new programme has been launched to decentralise the necessary power to District officers of the CAA and the Divisional Secretariats (DS), giving consumers the opportunity to lodge complaints with the DSs and the District offices of the CAA. Niriella further said that this programme has already been launched in Districts such as Colombo, Gampaha, and Kurunegala and has already displayed progress. He said that the complexities in the procedures for making complaints would be addressed by the said programme. He noted that the decentralisation of power will save time for both consumers and the CAA. He also added that the support of the Legal Aid Commission cannot be obtained as per the opinion of the Attorney General due to certain technical issues, and that therefore, the CAA has decided to appoint lawyers to the teams that hear public complaints. Niriella further said that no such large number of public complaints has piled up, but that a decision has been taken by the CAA to withhold those complaints until the launch of the said programme is finalised.