What is Tele-law service?

• Tele-law is a service that uses video conferencing facilities and telephone services to connect lawyers to litigants who need legal advice. 
• This service aims to reach out to the needy, especially the marginalized and disadvantaged. 
• The project connects citizens with lawyers through communications and information technology with the help of Para-Legal Volunteers stationed at identified Common Service Centers or CSCs.

Role of Para Legal Volunteer 

• Para Legal Volunteer (PLV) is the first point of contact between rural citizens and lawyers providing legal aid through CSC. 
• They are not lawyers, but have basic understanding of the legal process. They hear the grievances of citizens and offer appropriate support/suggestions for legal aid. They also help the citizens understand legal issues and advice given by lawyers. 
• A trained PLV is available in a CSC for minimum ten days in a month under the Scheme.

Benefits

• Tele Law service enables anyone to seek legal advice without wasting precious time and money. 
• Legal advice is made available to everyone under Tele-Law service Advice is free of Cost to those who are eligible for free legal aid under Section 12 of Legal Services Authority Act, 1987:
  • Women
  • Children
  • Persons belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
  • Victims of Trafficking
  • Mentally ill and differently abled people
  • Victims of natural disaster/ethnic violence
  • Workers in unorganized /industrial workers
  • Under trials
  • People of low income group
• For all others a nominal fee of Rs INR 30/- charged for each consultation.
• The Tele-law website can be accessed at http://tele-law.in and is available in 22 official languages.
• For easy and direct access Tele- Law Mobile Application (both Android and IoS) has also been launched in 2021 and it is presently available in 22 scheduled languages. 

Jurisdiction

• Legal matters in which advice can be taken through Tele-Law service :-
  • Dowry, family dispute, divorce, protection from domestic violence.
  • Sexual harassment, sexual abuse, eve teasing at the workplace.
  • Maintenance of women, children and senior citizens.
  • Rights regarding property and land.
  • Equal wages for males and females.
  • Maternity benefits and prevention of foeticide.
  • Prohibition of child marriage, protection of children from sexual assault, prevention of child labour and implementing right to education.
  • Arrest – (F.I.R)/ process of registering the First Information Report.
  • Atrocities against scheduled castes/ scheduled tribes and their rehabilitation.

Why in News?

• The Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice has launched the Tele-Law 2.0 initiative.
• This version entails the fusion of Tele-Law Services with Nyaya Bandhu pro bono legal services, a merger to further enhance citizen accessibility to legal aid. 
• Tele-Law services are set to be extended to all 2.65 lakh Gram Panchayats through common service centres, ensuring that even the remotest corners of the nation have access to justice. 
• The overarching goal of the Tele-Law program is to touch the lives of one crore beneficiaries well before 2026. 

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1952225