The NCC says the new online portal will help expedite the handling of consumer complaints.

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has finally launched a portal to allow people to lodge complaints online.

After announcing on Monday that its portal had gone live, the service seemed to "time out" initially, but by Tuesday morning it appeared to be working smoothly.

The NCC said consumers can now file their complaints online using the e-Service portal, with the first phase of the digitised complaint-handling process rolled out.

The portal is now live and will replace the manual complaint form, although those without internet access can still lodge complaints manually.

The manual complaints process was cumbersome and inefficient, which is why the commission decided to take the process online.

Acting National Consumer Commissioner Thezi Mabuza said because consumers are accustomed to online transactions, "we want to make it easier and more convenient for them to file complaints from the comfort of their homes or on the spot.

"The portal also makes it easy and possible for consumers to log in and view the status of their complaints without contacting the NCC."

Consumer registration is verified through the Department of Home Affairs, so people are asked to provide either their ID or passport numbers.

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