Complaint filed on: 14-03-2012
Disposed on: 02-01-2013
BEFORE THE BANGALORE IV ADDITIONAL DISTRICT
CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,
BANGALORE URBAN DISTRICT, NO.8, SAHAKARA BHAVAN, CUNNINGHAM ROAD, BANGALORE – 560 052
C.C.No.564/2012
DATED THIS THE 2nd JANUARY 2013
PRESENT
SRI.J.N.HAVANUR, PRESIDENT
SMT.NIVEDITHA.J, MEMBER
Complainant: -
Wing Commander G.B.Athri (Retd)
S/o. late S.N.G.Athir,
Aged about 57 years,
Residing at No.52,
“Dhatri” Saraswathi Puram
New Layout, Near Hulimavu,
Bannerghatta Road,
Bangalore-76
V/s
Opposite party: -
Bangalore Electricity Supply
Company Limited.
A company registered under the
Provisions of the Companies Act,
1956 having registered office at
K.R. Circle, Bangalore
Reptd by its Managing Director
ORDER
SRI.J.N.HAVANUR, PRESIDENT
This is a complaint filed by the complainant against the OP, under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986, praying to pass an order, directing the OP to award Rs.13,33,712=00 towards damages of the household articles, hospital expenses, mental agony, legal notice charges, alongwith interest at 16% per annum and together with cost of litigation.
2. The brief facts of the complaint can be stated as under.
The complainant is an ex-serviceman having served the Indian Air Force over two decades. The complainant is the absolute owner of the residential property bearing no.52, Saraswathi Puram New Layout, Near Hulimavu, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore. On 7-4-2010, the complainant and his family members were away from their residence at work place, and at that time, the complainant received information that, there was a grave fire accident at his residence and upon the receipt of the information, the complainant rushed to his residence only to find that there was a serious act of fire in the residence, emitting thick clouds of smoke. The Karnataka State fire and Emergency services department had reached the spot and had valiantly extinguished the fire on the very same day and also issued a fire certificate dated 28-5-2010. On seeing the ghastly fire and the extent of damage the complainant was in rude shock, dismay and loss of work, he and his family who had a home in the morning were rendered homeless by the evening and had to stay for months in friends house’s on rotation till the house was rebuilt with great difficulty and considerable financial loss. The said fire accident was widely reported in news papers and electronic media and it was reported that the fire has taken place due to sudden surge in the voltage and therefore the refrigerator in the kitchen caught fire and because of the same, carefully built house over a period of a decade with the hard earned money, had gone bust in one single stroke of negligence by service provider BESCOM and the entire kitchen was gutted all furniture, cabinets alongwith all the papers kept, wood work, microwave, fridge, water purifier, rice cooker, stove and grocery have been burnt only due to the negligence of BESCOM authorities, who being the OP in this case, Assistant Executive Engineer of BESCOM visited the scene of accident on 7-4-2010, as per the demand of the complainant, even the Hulimavu police authorities paid a visit to the spot. The BESCOM authorities stated that, the complainant will be adequately compensated for the material loss in due course of time after the complainant presents his claim to the BESCOM. On 12-4-2010 the complainant has made a representation to the Assistant Executive Engineer, JP Nagar, despite adequate protection of MCB, voltage stabilizers of quality and switches of quality, high voltage has passed through the feeder lines causing the fire which spread to the entire house. The complainant has called upon the OP authorities to compensate for the loss caused on account of the said fire and the loss was quantified at Rs.10,36,900=00. The independent report submitted by Mr.Radhakrishna, Assistant Engineer states that, due to heavy wind LT line neutral snapped at TC centre with open circuit of the neutral causing induction of surge voltage instantaneously. The said report is produced and another independent report of MM Sali, Assistant Executive Engineer, is also produced one Manjunath, authorized representative of Deputy chief Electrical Inspectorate, Govt. of Karnataka under taking visited the complainant’s residence on 8-4-2010 carried out investigation and submitted an interim report to BESCOM. Since there is a delay, the complainant has addressed another communication dated 28-1-2011 to the additional chief secretary, department of energy, Govt. of Karnataka, Bangalore and because of inhalation of thick smoke during the rescue operation and dust from thick soot in subsequent cleaning and rebuilding the home, the complainant has suffered acute long pneumonia and got himself treated at Forties hospital between 19th to 23rd May 2010, which cost the complainant Rs.26,812=00, and there was no positive response from the BESCOM authorities, the matter was brought to the attention of the Principal secretary, Dept. of Energy, Govt. of Karnataka and KERC. KERC wrote the Managing Director, BESCOM to look into the delay in finalization of the claim. The Managing Director, BESCOM spoke to the complainant with an assurance that he will look into the matter. It is utterly fallacious on the part of the OP to contend that, the reason for the accident is attributable to the complainant. The cause of action first arose on 7-4-2010 when the fire incident took place and ultimately on 18-3-2011 when a legal notice came to be addressed to the OP authorities who have failed even to reply the same, the complainant is a consumer under provisions of CP Act, the OP committed serious deficiency in service in not providing sufficient safeguard to prevent the fire accident resulted in the house of the complainant burning down on 7-4-2010 and the negligence on the part of the OP has caused serious mental agony, trauma and hardship not only to the complainant but also to the family of the complainant. Hence the present complaint is filed.
3. After service of the notice, the OP did not appear before the forum, and the OP was called out absent and he has been placed exparte, and posted the case for filing the affidavit of complainant.
4. So as to prove the case, the complainant has filed his affidavit by way of evidence and produced 18 copies of documents alongwith list dated 13-3-2012 and also 17 bills alongwith list dated 4-12-2012.
5. One Wing Commander G.B.Athri (Retd) who being the complainant has deposed in his affidavit by way of evidence that, he is an ex-serviceman having served the Indian Air Force Over two decades and attained the august position as that of wing commander after illustrious service in the Indian Air Force. He is absolute owner of the residential property bearing no.52, Saraswathi Puram New Layout, Near Hulimavu, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore. On 7-4-2010 is the most traumatic day in his life. On that fateful day, when he and his family members were away from his residence, he received information that, there was a grave fire accident at his residence and upon the receipt of the information, he rushed to his residence only to find that there was a serious act of fire in his residence, emitting thick clouds of smoke, by that time, he arrived at the site, the Karnataka State fire and Emergency services department had reached the spot and had valiantly extinguished the fire and also issued a fire certificate dated 28-5-2010. On seeing the ghastly fire and the extent of damage, he was in rude shock, dismay and loss of word, he and his family who had a home in the morning were rendered homeless by the evening. The said fire accident was widely reported in news papers and electronic media and it was reported that the fire has taken place due to sudden surge in the voltage and therefore the refrigerator in the kitchen caught fire and had gone bust in one single stroke of negligence by service provider BESCOM and the entire kitchen was gutted all furniture, cabinets alongwith all the papers kept, wood work, microwave, fridge, water purifier, rice cooker, stove and grocery have been burnt only due to the negligence of BESCOM authorities. The BESCOM authorities, including the Assistant Engineer, Assistant Executive Engineer and Executive Engineer of BESCOM have visited the scene of accident. The Hulimavu police authorities visited to the spot. The BESCOM authorities stated that, he will be adequately compensated for the material loss in due course of time after he presents his claim to the BESCOM and he has made a representation to the Assistant Executive Engineer, JP Nagar, on 12-4-2010 praying to compensate for loss of Rs.10,36,900=00. The independent report submitted by Mr.Radhakrishna, Assistant Engineer states that, due to heavy wind LT line neutral snapped at TC centre with open circuit of the neutral causing induction of surge voltage instantaneously, and another independent report of MM Sali, Assistant Executive Engineer states that, due to heavy wind the LT line neutral conductor snapped and high voltage developed at TC No.403 of BTM F-8 feeder and fire occurred. Manjunath authorized representative of Deputy Chief Electrical Inspectorate; Govt. of Karnataka under taking visited his residence on 8-4-2010 and carried out investigation and submitted an interim report to BESCOM, on 17-4-2010 point out lapses of BESCOM in supplying power to the consumer. Since there is a delay, he addressed another communication dated 28-1-2011 to the additional chief secretary, department of energy, Govt. of Karnataka, Bangalore and because of inhalation of thick smoke during the rescue operation he has suffered acute lung pneumonia and got himself treated at Forties hospital between 19th to 23rd May 2010, by incurring expenditure of Rs.26,812=00, and additional financial burden apart from the material loss and home rebuilding cost, and there was no positive response from the BESCOM authorities, so he brought to the attention of the Principal secretary, Dept. of Energy, Govt. of Karnataka and KERC. The Managing Director, BESCOM spoke to him with an assurance that he will look into the matter. The managing director, BESCOM sent an email stating that, either the complainant can wait till the rules are changed authorizing BESCOM to pay the compensation or appear before KERC now itself. Since he was in a financial loss, he chose to appear before the KERC, and then he got issued legal notice to the OP claiming a sum of Rs.12,63,712=00 towards damages, hospital expense and mental agony, thereafter, he filed a complaint before the commission bearing no.1/2011 and the OP has entered appearance and has filed written statement of objection, and the OP has shifted the blame on him for the fire. The said objection statement is fallacious and thereafter regulatory commission has passed an order on 22-12-2011 hold that, it is open to him to approach the consumer forum for claiming compensation. All along he was made to believe that the compensation will be awarded, but no compensation was awarded by OP, and it has passed untenable and meaningless order. So the present complaint is filed against the OP, praying to pay compensation, so the complaint be allowed and grant relief as prayed in the complaint.
6. A careful reading of the averments of complaint and evidence of the complainant as mentioned above, it is made explicitly clear that, the complainant has tendered his evidence in accordance with the averments of complaint. Let us have a look at the relevant documents of the complainant, so as to know whether the oral evidence of the complainant is supported by documentary evidence or not. Document no.1 of the complainant list dated 13-3-2012 is the copy of Fire Accident certificate issued by the Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services, Govt.of Karnataka wherein it is stated that, on account of fire in the house of complainant Fridge, Heater, AC supplier, TV, Mixer, curtains, carpet door, tables and kitchen room etc. were burnt, the fire has been extinguished with the help of water. Document no.2 is the copy of report published in Bangalore Mirror News Paper dated 9-4-2010, wherein it is stated that, on account of sudden surge in voltage, the entire articles kept in the house of complainant were burnt and damage is estimated about Rs.15 lakhs and alongwith house of complainant other houses were also burnt, and six positive photos were produced and these photos go to revels that, all the articles kept in the kitchen were burnt. Document no.7 is the copy of letter of the complainant dated 12-4-2010 addressed to the Asst. Executive Engineer, S10, Sub division, J.P.Nagar; Bangalore praying to award compensation as early as possible and along with the said complaint, the list of 31 articles was enclosed and in front of the articles mentioned the values of the articles were mentioned, and in total the complainant has claimed Rs.10,36,900=00, but no documents of 31 articles were produced alongwith list. Next document is report of Asst. Executive Engineer, S10, Sub division, J.P.Nagar, Bangalore dated 13-4-2010 stating that, due to heavy wind, there is a LT line neutral snapped at TC centre with open circuit of line neutral causing induction of surge voltage instantaneously. Document no.8 is the copy of letter of the Asst. Engineer, VB layout, S10, Subdivision, Bangalore addressed to the Asst. Executive Engineer, S10, Subdivision, J.P.Nagar, Bangalore dated 13-4-2010 reporting fire accident on 7-4-2010 in the house of complainant, and the reason for accident is that, due to heavy wind LT line neutral snapped at TC centre with open circuit of line neutral causing induction of surge voltage instantaneously, the same is rectified and power supply restored normally. Document no.9 is the copy of report of Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector dated 16-8-2010 addressed to the Chief Secretary, Energy Department, Vikasa Soudha, Bangalore, and in the opinion column, it is stated that, the neutral wire of transformer was detached and touched the phase and, on account of high power electricity flown to the house of the complainant than the fixed current, and due to that spark was found in the electrical equipments of the complainant and happened the said fire mishap and BESCOM authorities have failed to maintain the LT line in a proper and fit condition as per section 29 and 92 of Indian Electricity Act, and they are responsible for the said fire accident. The said report of the Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector is made unambiguously clear that, the fire accident has taken place on account of negligence of BESCOM authorities as they failed to maintain the LT line situated near by the complainant’s house in proper condition, as per the provisions of section 29 and 92 of Indian Electricity Act. Document no.10 is the copy of letter of the complainant dated 1-7-2010 addressed to the Asst. Executive Engineer, S10, Subdivision, JP Nagar, Bangalore praying to expedite matter and release compensation to him early, and the copy of the said letter was sent to Executive Engineer, BESCOM, Bangalore. Document no.11 is the copy of letter of the Executive Engineer, BESCOM, HSR Layout, Bangalore dated 30-8-2010 addressed to the Superintending Engineer, informing about the fire accident in the house of complainant alongwith report. Document no.12 is the copy of letter of Superintending Engineer, Bangalore South Circle, BESCOM, Bangalore dated 2-11-2010 addressed to the Chief Engineer, BESCOM, Bangalore forwarding the copy of complaint of the complainant alongwith documents for compensation of Rs.10,36,900=00 and prayed to issue necessary direction to take action in the matter. Document no.13 is the copy of letter of the complainant dated 28-1-2011 addressed to the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Energy, Govt.of Karnataka, Vikasa Soudha, Bangalore praying to intervene and issue necessary instructions to the concerned authorities of the BESCOM to compensate the complainant without further delay. Document no.14 is the copy of certificate issued by Dr.P.D.Aravindan, Consultant Physician, Fortis Hospital, Bangalore dated 29-5-2010 in the name of the complainant stating that, the complainant was admitted on 19-5-2010 and discharged on 23-5-2010. The copies of Inpatient bills, some reports of laboratory and medical bills are produced, the said copies of Inpatient of Fortis Hospital discloses that, the complainant was admitted to the hospital on 19-5-2010 and discharged on 23-5-2010 and total bill amount was Rs.24,715=00, and copy of discharge summary is also found in the case file, wherein it is stated in description column that, Right sided Pneumonia and Diabetes mellitus. Document no.15 is the copy of email letter of Manivannan dated 27-3-2011 addressed to the complainant informing to wait for the KERC to change the rules or appear before KERC now itself and in the said letter, the complainant has sent email message to Manivannan informing that, he will have to seek the indulgence of consumer grievances committee. Document no.16 is the copy of legal notice of the complainant, given to the OP dated 18-3-2011 calling upon the OP to pay compensation of Rs.12,63,713=00 alongwith interest and cost of legal notice. Document no.1 of the complainant list dated 4-12-2012 is the copy of cash memo issued by Coronation dated 28-4-1999 in the name of the complainant for having purchased BPL colour TV for Rs.24,650=00, and the fire accident took place on 7-4-2010 as per the complaint, the said TV receipt was prior to the fire incident and that TV was also burnt as per certificate issued by Karnataka state Fire and Emergency Service department, which is produced by the complainant at document no.1. The said TV receipt which was taken prior to the fire accident is worthy of acceptance. The complainant has produced four Tax invoices dated 28-10-2010, 9-5-2010, 23-4-2010 and 11-7-2010 for having purchased LG Micro Oven, Panasonic E/cooker, LG 240L, GL-258 VT5 and Mixer for Rs.5,100=00, Rs.2,350=00, Rs.15,800=00 and 3,800=00 respectively from Pai International Electronics Ltd. Since the said four bills are pertaining to articles purchased after fire accident, so we do not intend to take into account of these four bills. The complainant has produced. Field service report given by Rao and Company dated 15-3-2009 and under that report, it is transpired that, the complainant got fixed the split AC in his house earlier to incident by spending an amount of Rs.20,500=00, and that document can be taken into account as the said report was prior to incident. The 4th document of the complainant is particulars of CITY bank credit card of the complainant for period from 28-6-2009 to 25-7-2009 and that document shows that on 15-7-2009 the complainant had purchased the Sofa set for Rs.20,000=00 which was prior to incident, and that sofa set of the complainant was also burnt in mishap occurred on 7-4-2010 and that credit card of CITY bank is liable to be accepted. Document no.5 to 7 are the Tax invoice dated 25-4-2011, 16-6-2011 and 2-12-2011 for Rs.11138=00, Rs.3,000=00 and Rs.7,500=00 for having purchased Mattress, Water filter and ILT 14000 XL and these three Tax invoice were taken after fire incident, so we do not want to take into consideration of these in voices. Next two Tax invoice, and one bill are taken in the name of the complainant and these Tax invoice and bill are issued by Griha Vaibhava Marketing (P) Ltd and Sonovision on 25-11-2006, 11-10-2007 and 16-3-2003 for having purchased LG colour TV, Sony DVD and LG Washing Machine for Rs.15,000=00 Rs.3,400=00 and Rs.13,703=00 respectively and these Tax invoice and bill were taken early to incident and these articles were bunt in the fire accident on the fateful day. So these three receipts will be taken into account for ascertaining damages and rest of the vouchers produced by the complainant are the documents having dates subsequent to the incident, so we do not want to take into consideration of these vouchers.
7. Having considered the totality of the oral and relevant documents of the complainant, particularly the report of the Asst. Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer and Superintending Engineer, and Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector of BESCOM, Govt.of Karnataka and some of the photos, it is made unambiguously clear that, on 7-4-2010, the LT line neutral conductor snapped from feeder due to heavy winds, and the said snapping of neutral conductor from the transformer resulted into high voltage and on account of it, the fire occurred in the house of complainant, and in the said fire house hold articles namely TV, fridge and some documents and other household articles were gutted causing extensive damage to the house property of the complainant. The report of the Asst. Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer of BESCOM, Superintending Engineer BESCOM, Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector go to show that the said fire mishap has taken place due to negligence of BESCOM authorities. Had the authorities of BESCOM taken safe and precautionary measure this fire accident would have been avoided. Since, the complainant has been paying the current charges every months to BESCOM, it is the bounden duty of OP to take proper and safety measure to avoid such fire accident, and they cannot escape liability throwing blame on the nature or on the complainant. So from the material evidence placed by the complainant, we are of the considered opinion that, the fire accident has taken place on the fateful day because of sheer negligence of the OP and there is total deficiency of service on the part of the OP in not taking safety measure to avoid such ghastly fire accident. The oral evidence of the complainant in relation to occurrence of fire accident in the house of complainant on 7-4-2010 due to negligence of the OP stands corroborated by copies of certificate issued by the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency department and letters given by the Asst. Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer and Superintending Engineer BESCOM, and report submitted by Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector and other correspondences between the parties, photos and relevant vouchers of articles. In order to rebut, the oral and documentary evidence of complainant, the OP did not vouchsafe any convincing material evidence. So under the circumstance, we have no reason to disbelieve the oral and documentary evidence of the complainant, and accordingly, we hold that, the officers of the OP are totally negligent and there is deficiency of service on the part of the OP.
8. As far as, assessment of damages is concerned, the complainant has produced copies of hospital bills amounting to Rs.24,715=00, and on account of emitting thick smoke on the fateful day, the complainant was affected and hospitalized for five days and taken treatment for Pneumonia and Diabetes Mellitus. So the complainant is entitled to claim the hospital bills of Rs.24,715=00. Out of the bills produced alongwith list dated 4-12-2012, we have already stated that the documents no.1 and 3 to 4 are taken into consideration, so also concerned Tax invoice issued by Griha Vaibhava Marketing (P) Ltd and cash bill issued by Sonovision are worthy to be considered and by making calculation of these admissible bills, it will of Rs.97,253=00. The complainant is entitled to Rs.97,253=00 towards damages of articles in the fire accident. Viewing the nature of the fire accident, we feel it proper to award nominal sum of Rs.1,50,000=00 to the complainant towards compensation and not amounts as prayed in the complaint. In all the complainant is entitled to Rs.2,47,253=00 towards compensation and damages of the articles. The OP is directed to pay the said amount to the complainant towards compensation and damages alongwith 9% interest per annum on the said amount within 30 days from the date of receipt of the order. The OP is further directed to pay Rs.2,000=00 to the complainant towards cost of litigation, and according, we answer this point. In the result, for the foregoing reasons, we proceed to pass the following order:
ORDER
The complaint of the complainant is partly allowed.
The OP is directed to pay a sum of Rs.2,47,253=00 (Rs.Two lakhs Forty Seven Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Three only) to the complainant towards compensation and damages alongwith 9% interest on the said amount within 30 days from the date of receipt of the order.
The OP is further directed to pay Rs.2,000=00 (Rs.Two thousand only) to the complainant towards cost of litigation.
Supply free copy of this order to both parties.
Dictated to the Stenographer, got it transcribed and corrected, pronounced in the Open forum on this, the 2nd day of January 2013.
MEMBER PRESIDENT
