Under Section 51(1) of the Consumer Protection Act,

Solution

Section 51(1) provides that appeals from State Commission orders must be filed within 30 days, but critically, the second proviso states: "no appeal by a person, who is required to pay any amount in terms of an order of the State Commission, shall be entertained by the National Commission unless the appellant has deposited fifty per cent. of that amount in the manner as may be prescribed." This 50% deposit requirement is mandatory and jurisdictional—failure to deposit renders the appeal non-maintainable. The Supreme Court has examined whether this constitutes a minimum or maximum deposit threshold. The deposit requirement operates as a guard against frivolous appeals and protects the consumer's interest, ensuring that appellants have financial commitment to their claims.