Dt. of filing- 29/01/2019
Dt. of Judgement- 16/03/2021
Mrs. Sashi Kala Basu, Hon’ble President.
This consumer complaint is filed by the complainant namely Sujoy Das under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the Opposite Parties ( referred as OP hereinafter ) namely (1) Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited and (2) Senior Commercial Manager , CESC Limited alleging deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite Parties.
Case of the complainant in short is that he is a bonafide customer having consumer ID No. 02001842381 and till date not a single month he was defaulter in making payment of monthly electric bill . The complainant used to pay the monthly bill amount of the CESC through e-payment mode. He received electric bill for the month of November, 2018 being bill number 02205037076/1183 dated 16.12.2018. He had to pay Rs.1120/- and the due date was 26.12.2018 . Complainant paid the said monthly consumption bill of November, 2018 of Rs. 1120/- through his Google Pay Account on 26.12.2018 i.e. the due date. But it is unfortunate that on 15.01.2019, complainant received a notice of connection from the OPs stating that he had neglected to pay bill for the amount accounting month of November,2018 for Rs. 23.76 paise. The complainant had made the payment of November, 2018 electricity bill within due date. OP apparently has adopted unfair trade practice to squeeze the money. However, to save his reputation the complainant on 24.01.2014 has paid Rs. 810/- including the extra amount of Rs. 23.76. So, the present complaint has been filed praying for directing the OPs to refund the extra amount of Rs. 23.76 paise, to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- as compensation for harassment and mental agony and to pay litigation cost of Rs. 10,000/-.
Complainant has annexed with the complaint the electric bill from the month of April 2018 to December, 2018 and the copy of updated passbook showing payment.
Opposite Parties have contested the case by filing W.V. denying and disputing the allegations contending specifically that as per the record of the OP, the November 2018 account bill of the complainant, amount was Rs. 1143.76 paise and the net payable amount was Rs. 1130/- after rebate within due date i.e. 23.12.2018 and net amount payable for e-payment was Rs. 1120/- after rebate within due date i.e. on 26.12.2018. The OPs received amount of Rs. 1120/- for November, 2018 accounting bill on 29.12.2018 through Mobile payment after due date i.e. 26.12.2018 and as such complainant was not entitled to any rebate. Therefore, November, 2018 account bill was due of Rs. 23.76. Thus, the OPs have prayed for dismissal of the case .
During the course of the trial both the parties filed their respective affidavit in chief followed by filing questionnaire and reply thereto and ultimately written notes of argument has been filed and both parties have also advanced their argument. So the following points require determination:-
- Whether there has been any deficiency in service or unfair trade practices on the part of the Opposite Parties ?
- Whether the complainant is entitled to the relief as prayed for ?
Decision with reasons :
Both the points are taken up together for a comprehensive discussion.
Dispute in this case is limited to the only point whether the electric bill amount for November, 2018 was paid by the complainant within due date ?
According to complainant on receiving the electric bill .of November 2018, he paid the bill amount of Rs.1120/- on 26.12.2018 which was due date through the Google Pay. In support of his claim that he made the payment on 26.12.2018 i.e. within due date, complainant has filed copy of the updated bank passbook. The relevant entry in the Passbook is very categorical that the payment was made on 26.12.2018. However, Opposite Parties have claimed that they received payment of Rs.1120/- for November, 2018 bill on 29.12.2018 through mobile payment after due date i.e. 26.12.2018 and as the amount was received after due date, complainant was not entitled to any rebate and so the bill for November 2018 of the complainant was of gross amount of Rs. 1143/-, there was due of Rs. 23.76 . But opposite parties have not filed any document to show that they actually received the payment for November 2018 bill on 29.12.2018. A payment information is filed by the OP but the same does not match with the consumer number of the complainant stated in the electric bills. The consumer ID of the complainant in the bill is 02001842381 and Bill No. is 02205037076/1183. So the consumer Number of the complainant is 02205037076 whereas the payment information filed by the OP relates to Consumer No.0220503707. However even accepting the version of the Opposite Parties that they received the payment on 29.12.2018 but for the same, complainant cannot be held liable as apparently he made payment on due date i.e. on 26.12.2018. For any technical default or transactional failure due to e-payment, complainant could not be said to be a defaulter especially when it is an admitted case of the Opposite Parties that complainant paid his regular consumption bills through debit card/Paytm wallet within due date. It is apparent from the electric bills filed by the complainant that the Opposite Parties encouraged the e-payment mode and they provided the rebate for e-payment mode. In such a situation if any transactional error happened, complainant could not be responsible for the same. So the notice of disconnection for the alleged due amount of Rs. 23.76 for the month of November , 2018 by the Opposite Parties was not legal and valid and consequent to the same, since there has been deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite Parties, complainant is entitled to the refund of the said sum of Rs. 23.76 and also entitled to compensation for harassment and mental agony. Claim of the complainant that notice of disconnection also hampered his reputation cannot be ruled out. So an amount of Rs.25,000/- as compensation and litigation cost of Rs. 10,000/- will be justified.
Hence
Ordered
CC/53/2019 is allowed on contest. Opposite Parties are directed to refund Rs.23.76 paise to the complainant. Opposite Parties are further directed to pay Rs. 25,000/- as compensation and litigation cost of Rs. 10,000/-. Entire amount as directed above shall be paid to the complainant by the Opposite Parties within 45 days ( Forty five days ) from the date of this order in default the amount shall carry interest @ 8% p.a. till realisation.
