CPGRAMS: File a Government Grievance 2026

Reviewed on: 2026-06-19.

Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) is run by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The portal at pgportal.gov.in connects to 91 Central Ministries, Departments, and Organisations and all 36 States and Union Territories through role-based officer accounts.

Any citizen can use CPGRAMS against any public authority: a central government department (passport, income tax, railways, post, banking regulator), a state department, or an attached or autonomous body. Filing is free. The government confirmed in the August 2024 Comprehensive Guidelines that no fee is charged and that any money collected by third parties (such as Common Service Centres) for grievance filing goes to those intermediaries alone, not to the government.

1. Register or log in at pgportal.gov.in. You can create a new account using your mobile number or email. Alternatively, download the CPGRAMS app from Google Play (search “My Grievance”) or the Apple App Store.
2. Choose the ministry or department your complaint is against. CPGRAMS 7.0 uses a questionnaire-guided dropdown so the complaint auto-routes to the right officer, including field offices.
3. Write your complaint. State the facts clearly: what happened, when, and what relief you want. Attach supporting documents (PDF or image). The portal has multilingual auto-translation if you write in a regional language.
4. Submit. You receive a unique registration number by SMS and email. Save it. Use “View Status” on the portal or app to track progress.

DARPG has stated that grievances received by email are not attended to. Use the portal only.

Under the DARPG Office Memorandum dated 23 August 2024 (revised Comprehensive Guidelines), the maximum redressal time is 21 days. For grievances tagged as urgent or where early action is critical, the Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) must act within 3 days.

If resolution requires more time, the department must send an interim reply explaining the delay and the expected resolution date. The interim reply does not close the complaint; only a final Action Taken Report (ATR) closes it.

Where a complaint is misdirected, the receiving officer must forward it to the correct authority within 48 hours. Departments cannot close a complaint by stating it “does not pertain to this office.”

The following categories fall outside CPGRAMS under the August 2024 guidelines:

• RTI matters (file under the RTI Act 2005 instead)
• Court-related or sub-judice matters
• Religious matters
• Service grievances of government employees (unless internal channels are exhausted per DoPT OM No. 11013/08/2013-Estt.(A-III) dated 31.08.2015)
• Suggestions (forwarded internally but not treated as grievances)
• Anything affecting territorial integrity or relations with foreign countries

AI-powered spam and bulk grievance detection is built into CPGRAMS 7.0, and frivolous or abusive complaints are routed to a spam box for GRO review.

After a grievance is closed, you receive an SMS or email. If you are not satisfied, rate the resolution as “Poor” on the portal. This rating unlocks the appeal option. You can also raise an appeal through the CPGRAMS feedback call centre.

The appeal goes to the Nodal Appellate Authority (NAA), who is an officer of at least Additional Secretary or Joint Secretary rank in the concerned ministry. The NAA examines the appeal independently. Under the August 2024 guidelines, appeals must be disposed of within 30 days. You can track the appeal status using your original registration number under “Appeal Status” on the portal.

If the appeal is pending, the grievance is not treated as fully closed. A disposed grievance counts as closed only after the appeal is decided.

CPGRAMS works best for:

• Pension delays or wrongful deduction (central government pensioners)
• Passport delays or rejection at passport seva kendras
• Railway refunds, ticketing, and service complaints
• Post office service and speed-post delivery failures
• Bank and insurance grievances routed through their respective regulators' nodal departments
• EPFO withdrawal delays and EPF account corrections (see EPFO grievance filing)
• Income-tax refund delays or incorrect demand notices (see income-tax grievance portal)

For bank-specific disputes that CPGRAMS has not resolved, the RBI Banking Ombudsman at bankingombudsman.rbi.org.in is the dedicated escalation path (see RBI Banking Ombudsman complaint). For passport-office disputes, see passport complaint process. For online fraud, report to the National Cyber Crime portal at cybercrime.gov.in or dial 1930 (see how to report cyber fraud on 1930).

If the 21-day window passes with no substantive reply, or if the appeal is also unsatisfactory, two routes exist:

Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG), Cabinet Secretariat: For grievances against Ministries and Departments under DPG's purview that have not been redressed after a reasonable time on CPGRAMS, you may approach the DPG directly via its link on the pgportal.gov.in home page.

RTI application: If you suspect the department is withholding information, file an RTI application to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the concerned Ministry or Department under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act 2005.

File an RTI to: the Grievance Officer or Public Information Officer of the concerned Ministry or Department

• What is the status of my complaint (registration number: ) filed on CPGRAMS?
• What action was taken on the complaint and by which officer?
• Was an interim reply issued within the prescribed 21-day deadline? If not, why not?
• Was my appeal forwarded to the Nodal Appellate Authority and on what date?
• What is the name and designation of the Nodal Appellate Authority for this Ministry?

→ Use our free AI RTI Drafter to generate a complete Section 6(1) application.

No. CPGRAMS is a distinct portal run by DARPG. Grievances sent to the PMO through mygov.in or by post may be forwarded to CPGRAMS for action, but that routing adds time. Filing directly at pgportal.gov.in reaches the concerned ministry faster.

Yes. CPGRAMS supports all 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The portal has a multilingual auto-translation facility, and the GRO must reply in the language the grievance was filed in, as per the August 2024 guidelines.

If the GRO marks your complaint as frivolous, it is closed without an ATR and the feedback option is disabled. You will not receive the normal closure notification. You can file a fresh, well-documented complaint. If the closure was incorrect, you may approach the Nodal PG Officer of that Ministry directly or file an RTI to ask on what grounds the complaint was categorised as spam.

Under the August 2024 guidelines, departments cannot close a complaint by saying it does not pertain to them. If they cannot identify the right GRO, they must forward it to their Nodal PG Officer within 48 hours for correct routing. If you receive a “wrong department” closure, file an appeal immediately.

CPGRAMS's AI deduplication system flags bulk and repetitive grievances. File one well-documented complaint. Mention all facts and attach evidence in the first filing. You can send a reminder on the portal using the “Reminder” option under your registration number rather than filing a duplicate complaint.

No central helpline number is published for CPGRAMS on pgportal.gov.in. DARPG operates a feedback call centre that contacts citizens after closure to verify satisfaction. Verify current contact details at pgportal.gov.in under the “Contact Us” section.

• CPGRAMS Portal: pgportal.gov.in (accessed 19 June 2026)
• DARPG Comprehensive Guidelines for Handling Public Grievances, Office Memorandum F.No. S-15/21/2021-(PG)-DARPG, dated 23 August 2024: PDF via pgportal.gov.in
• DARPG Strengthening of Machinery for Redressal of Public Grievance (CPGRAMS), Office Memorandum dated 27 July 2022: PDF via pgportal.gov.in
• DARPG Public Grievances: darpg.gov.in/public-grievances

By Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak