The Hindu : New Delhi News : Tata Teleservices told to pay damages

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Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006
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New Delhi

Tata Teleservices told to pay damages

Staff Reporter

Held guilty for service deficiency and harassing customer

NEW DELHI: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum at Tis Hazari here has directed Tata Teleservices Limited to pay Rs. 40,000 to one of its customers, holding the company guilty of deficiency in rendering service and causing mental agony and harassment to the customer.

The judgment by the Forum, comprising president K.K. Chopra, Neeru Mittal and R.K. Parbhakar, came on a complaint by Jayashree Pillai, senior teacher at Miranda House college of Delhi University, accusing the company of subjecting her to harassment by making calls, sending SMSs and serving a legal notice on her for payment of dues even after she had discontinued its service.

The Forum also directed Tata Teleservices to pay Rs. 5,000 to Dr. Jayashree as compensation for litigation expenses.

The Forum directed the company to comply with the directions within 60 days.

The Forum also set aside the service agreement between the service provider and the customer that put the onus for clearing the bills on the latter even in case of non-receipt of a bill. "It is unfair and unjust," the Forum ruled.

Holding the service agreement "unilateral and biased", the Forum said: "This imposition infringes on the rights of the consumer and leaves the consumer with no say in spite of deficiency in service in billing and other related matters."

In her complaint, Dr. Jayashree had said that the telephone service provider debarred her from making calls on her phone alleging that she had not cleared the bill for December 2005 though the fact was that she had not received the bill.

Her repeated requests to the company to send a duplicate bill fell on deaf ears, the complainant said, adding that the company finally sent a duplicate bill for Rs.1,400 on January 16 this year, two days after debarring her from making calls.

She had requested the company to adjust her security deposit of Rs. 1,000 against the pending bill and send her a bill for the balance amount so that she could make the payment and close the deal, Dr. Jayashree said.

She had also sent a registered letter to the company asking it to discontinue the service and settle the account but the latter did not respond, she charged.

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