Nivaran

The problem. India has a consumer law designed for self-representation and a filing portal to match. What it lacks is the layer between a wronged citizen and a properly pleaded complaint. Legal aid clinics have willing students but no structured intake. Commissions receive complaints that fail on maintainability or limitation before anyone reads the merits.

What Nivaran does. Structured intake in the citizen's language. A maintainability screen that flags commercial-purpose exclusions, free services, contested categories like telecom billing, and arbitration clauses, noting that Emaar MGF Land Ltd v Aftab Singh held an arbitration clause does not by itself bar a consumer complaint. A limitation check with a Section 69(2) condonation application generated automatically when the deadline has passed. Jurisdiction computed, not guessed. A pre-litigation ladder the citizen ticks off: company grievance, National Consumer Helpline 1915, legal notice with a 15-day demand. Then the pleadings pack under Section 35.

Why it can be trusted. Rules live in code and every conclusion shows the section it came from. The AI extracts facts; templates write the law. No draft reaches a citizen as final without a reviewer's approval, and approved PDFs carry the reviewer's name, institution, and date. Cases route to legal aid clinics and District Legal Services Authorities rather than a lawyer marketplace, which keeps it clear of Bar Council solicitation concerns. Consent under the DPDP Act, 2023 is taken before the first message, and citizens can delete their case and documents. Every assessment records the rule version it ran on.

Honest about scope. If the matter isn't a consumer dispute, Nivaran says so and points to the right forum: RBI Integrated Ombudsman for banking, RERA for real estate.

1. Intake in your own language Structured facts collected conversationally, in the language the citizen actually speaks. No legal vocabulary required to start.

2. Maintainability screen: "Can this go to a Consumer Commission?" Checks consumer status under s.2(7), flags commercial-purpose and resale exclusions, free services with no consideration, and contested categories like telecom billing and core education. Arbitration clauses get flagged with the note that Emaar MGF Land Ltd v Aftab Singh held an arbitration clause does not by itself bar a consumer complaint. Returns ok, at_risk, or not_consumer_dispute, with reasons.

3. Limitation check with automatic condonation Deadline computed under s.69(1). If the two years have run, it generates a condonation application under s.69(2) rather than letting the citizen file into a dismissal.

4. Jurisdiction, computed not guessed Pecuniary tier under the 2021 Jurisdiction Rules, territorial under s.34(2)(d). Tells the citizen exactly which Commission applies: District, State, or National.

5. Every conclusion carries its citation Rules live in code, not in a model's output. Each verdict displays the section it came from, so a lawyer can audit the reasoning in seconds.

6. Pre-litigation ladder A tracked checklist the citizen works through: company grievance, then platform grievance officer for e-commerce, then National Consumer Helpline 1915, then a legal notice with a 15-day demand, then filing on e-Daakhil. Dates recorded, visible to the reviewer.

7. Full pleadings pack, from templates Legal notice, complaint under s.35, list of dates, annexure index, verification, and the condonation application where needed. The AI extracts facts; templates write the legal text. Nothing is generated prose.

8. Lawyer in the loop Every draft routes to a law school legal aid clinic before the citizen sees it as final. Approved PDFs carry the reviewer's name, institution, and date in the footer. Cases route to clinics and District Legal Services Authorities, not a paid lawyer marketplace.

9. Alternative remedy routing If the matter isn't really a consumer dispute, it says so and points elsewhere: RBI Integrated Ombudsman for banking, RERA for real estate, platform grievance officer for e-commerce. Presented as options, not advice.

10. DPDP Act, 2023 compliance Explicit consent before the first message: what is collected, why, who sees it, how to delete. Citizens can delete their case, drafts, and media outright.

11. Audit trail Every assessment stores the rule version it ran on (cpa2019-jr2021-v1) and the inputs used. Reviewer edits preserve prior text with editor and timestamp.