PSUs, insurance firms face tough time in consumer fora in 2012
department, none escaped the stringent scrutiny of consumer fora on complaints of their indulgence in unfair and deceptive trade practices.
While the telecom sector managed to avoid scrutiny of the consumer fora in cases of billing disputes due to a 2009 Supreme Court ruling, matters related to value added services -- like caller tunes, number portability, SIM activation – offered by the telecom majors were taken up by the fora. The apex court had ruled that as per section 7B of the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, a dispute between a consumer and
a telephone service provider can be resolved only through arbitration and the consumer is barred from moving a consumer forum for redressal of grievances against a telephone company.
Despite the ruling, Bharti Airtel was ordered by a consumer forum here to pay Rs 25,000 to a post-paid subscriber as compensation for harassing him by demanding fresh documents to verify his six-year-old connection and then stopping outgoing calls on his number.
The aviation sector also faced ire with several major airlines -- international as well as Indian -- being rapped for providing deficient service to fliers.
While Kuwait Airways was ordered by NCDRC to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation to Rajasthan Art Emporium for delaying the delivery of its consignments of handicrafts to the US, Air India was asked to cough up over Rs one lakh by a Delhi district consumer forum to make its "rude" staff "learn a lesson" for their "callous" service towards a flier.
Continuing to safeguard the
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