3.4. Permanent Lok Adalats

In 2002, the Parliament brought about certain amendments to the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to institutionalize the Lok Adalats by making them a permanent body to settle the disputes related to public utility services such as transport, postal, telegraph etc.

♤ Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as permanent bodies with a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to public utility services.

♤ The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. One Crore.

♤ The award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding upon the parties

Kindly note that Permanent Lok Adalats have jurisdiction over pre-litigation matters only, while Lok Adalat have jurisdiction over pending and pre-litigation matters. Otherwise, Permanent Lok Adalats have the same powers that are vested in the Lok Adalats.

Mobile Lok Adalats are also organized in various parts of the country which travel from one location to another to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes through this mechanism.