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Consumer courts cannot entertain phone bill disputes

J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has held that consumer courts cannot entertain disputes relating to non-payment of telephone bill under the Consumer Protection (CP) Act.

A Bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice A.K. Ganguly in its order said: “When there is a special remedy provided in Section 7-B of the Indian Telegraph [IT] Act regarding disputes in respect of telephone bills, then the remedy under the CP Act is by implication barred.”

Provides for arbitrator

The Bench pointed out that Section 7-B of the IT Act provided for appointment of an arbitrator by the Central government specifically for determination of the disputes and the award of the arbitrator should not be questioned in any court. Further, the Bench said: “Rule 413 of the Telegraph Rules provides that all services relating to telephone are subject to Telegraph Rules. A telephone connection can be disconnected by the Telegraph Authority for default of payment under Rule 413.”

The dispute in this case related to telephone disconnection for non-payment of bill for the connection provided to the respondent, M. Krishnan. A consumer forum in Kozhikode ordered re-connection of the telephone.

A single judge of the Kerala High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by the General Manager, Telecom, against the consumer forum’s order and the Full Bench dismissed the appeal against this order. The present appeal is directed against that judgment.

High Court incorrect

Allowing the appeal and setting aside the judgment, the Bench said, “It is well settled that special law overrides the general law.

“In our opinion, the High Court was not correct in its approach.”

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