Someone in India with a legal problem has more options than they had ten years ago and almost no neutral information about which one fits. The choice usually gets made on price, or on whichever advertisement appeared first. That is a poor way to pick, because these five routes are not competing versions of the same product — they solve genuinely different problems, and four of them are the wrong answer for any given situation.
Which one should you use?
The whole comparison on one screen. Costs are what you actually end up paying, not headline prices.
| Route | What it costs you | Use it when — and when not to |
|---|---|---|
| Free legal aid Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 |
Nothing at all | You fall inside Section 12 Not if you do not qualify, or you need it today |
| AI legal chat | Free to ask | Working out whether you even have a case Not when the answer has to be right |
| Document generators | From about ₹99 per document | Routine paperwork, both sides cooperating Not when the document itself is the dispute |
| Online consultation | Platform fee plus the advocate’s own fee | A professional opinion on your facts Not when you need someone to run the case |
| Engaging an advocate | Highest, and the most variable | Anything contested, or with a court date Not senior rates for routine paperwork |
Who gets a free lawyer in India?
Under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, State and District Legal Services Authorities provide an advocate free of charge — not a discount, not a subsidy, free — to everyone in the categories listed in Section 12.
Women and children. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members. Industrial workmen. Victims of trafficking or of a mass disaster. Persons with disabilities. Persons in custody. And anyone whose annual income falls under the limit their State sets. If any of those describe you, the rest of this page is optional reading.
How do you actually claim it?
Apply to your District Legal Services Authority, which sits in the district court complex. NALSA also runs a national helpline on 15100. There is no filing fee, and no means test beyond the Section 12 categories.
What is a Lok Adalat, and should you use one?
Lok Adalats sit under the same Act and settle compoundable matters by agreement between the parties. They are quick and they cost nothing. One thing to understand before you walk into one:
An award has the force of a civil court decree and no appeal lies against it. That finality is the trade you make for the speed. Settle there only on terms you would accept permanently, because you will not get a second hearing on the same dispute.
What can AI legal help actually do?
It is free to ask, and it is genuinely good at the first hour of a problem: working out which law governs your situation, what the section says, what the deadline is, and whether you need a lawyer at all. It is available at 11pm, it does not charge per question, and it does not mind that you do not know the vocabulary yet.
This is our category — here is what we actually offer
We are Legal Setu, so treat this section as an interested party describing itself. Everything in it is checkable on this site in under a minute, which is the only reason it is worth writing down.
Free and unlimited. No query cap, no account, no card. Signing in only exists so your past chats are saved.
It cites. Answers name the Indian statute and section they rely on, built on the current Bare Acts — including the BNS and BNSS that replaced the IPC and CrPC in July 2024. You can check every answer against the Act.
Eight Indian languages. Ask in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada or English and the answer comes back in the same language. The interface itself is English.
It hands over when it should. When a matter needs a person, the same conversation books a Bar Council-verified advocate — ₹99 platform fee, refunded if we cannot match you within 6 business hours, with the advocate’s own fee agreed in writing before the call.
Recognised as a startup by DPIIT under Startup India, and 100+ published guides you can read without signing up for anything.
And the limit, put as plainly as the rest. An AI does not weigh the specific facts of your matter, cannot appear for you, cannot sign anything, and carries no professional liability if it is wrong. It is a good first step and a bad last one. We would rather say that here than have you find it out later.
Two things to check before trusting any answer
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam replaced the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act on 1 July 2024. A great deal of Indian legal material online still quotes the repealed sections, and any tool trained on that material will repeat them fluently and confidently. If an answer cites an IPC section for something that happened after that date, it is working from material that is out of date.
The second check is simpler: does it name the section? An answer that cites can be verified against the Bare Act in a minute. An answer that does not cannot be checked at all — and you have no way to tell a correct answer from a merely confident one.
Are downloadable legal templates safe to use?
For low-value, standard paperwork where the shape of the document matters more than the argument — a rent agreement, an NDA, a demand notice, an affidavit — a good generator produces something as usable as a junior would draft, for a few hundred rupees.
Where templates go wrong
State law. Stamp duty, registration requirements and tenancy rules differ by state. A template can be right in substance and unusable where you actually live.
Age. Check the review date on anything touching criminal law. A template still citing the IPC has not been looked at since mid-2024.
Whatever you use, read the complete document before paying for it. Anything that will not show you the full text first is asking you to buy blind.
What does an online lawyer consultation really cost?
Almost always two numbers, and usually only the first one gets advertised: a booking or platform fee, and the advocate’s own professional fee. The second is normally far larger than the first.
What exactly does the fee cover? What does the advocate charge on top, and when is that agreed? What happens if nobody is available? Is the fee refundable if they cannot match you? A service that will not answer all four in writing is one to skip.
It is also worth asking what “verified” means on any given platform. It should mean the advocate’s Bar Council enrolment has been checked, and it is entirely fair to ask how.
When should you just hire a lawyer?
When there is a court date, a statutory deadline, a signature that binds you, a sum you cannot afford to lose, or a lawyer already acting for the other side. For anything contested an advocate is not one option among five — it is the answer, and the other four are preparation for it.
Ask for the basis of the fee in writing before work starts: per appearance, per stage, or a lump sum. There is no statutory fee scale in India, so the number is whatever the two of you agree it is.
How to choose in about a minute
What we would tell a friend
Most people underuse the free options and overpay for the paid ones, almost always because nobody told them the free options existed. Free legal aid is the clearest case: a statutory right that a large share of the people entitled to it never claim.
Limitation periods, notice windows and appeal deadlines are counted in days, and no amount of money spent later buys back a missed one. A cheque bounce notice gives the drawer 15 days to pay. Consumer complaints carry their own limitation period. Finding out where you stand costs nothing; finding out late can cost you the entire claim.
Official sources
- Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 — India Code (official repository of Indian Bare Acts)
- National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) — free legal aid and the 15100 helpline
- Consumer Protection Act 2019 — India Code
Not sure which of the five you need?
Describe the situation and find out where you stand — free, no account.