General Manager,B.S.N.L Accounts Officer , B.S.N.L
...........Respondent(s)
BEFORE:
1. JIMMY KORAH 2. K.Anirudhan 3. Smt;Shajitha Beevi
Complainant(s)/Appellant(s):
OppositeParty/Respondent(s):
OppositeParty/Respondent(s):
OppositeParty/Respondent(s):
ORDER
SRI. K.ANIRUDHAN (MEMBER) Sri. Dayalmaji M.N. has filed this complaint before this Forum alleging deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties General Manager and Accounts Officer, B.S.N.L., Alappuzha. The contentions are as follows:- The original Land Phone bearing No. 2583386 was in the name of his deceased father Sri. P.K. Narayanan and it was up to 17-10-2006. The subscription amount was below Rs. 500/- and the complainant remitted the amount properly and without any delay and the opposite parties have not raised any objection regarding the remittance. While so, the complainant received a Bill No. 1465726 dated 07-03-2007 from the opposite parties for a sum of Rs. 1,854/- for the period of two months from 01-01-2007 to 28-02-2007. The said amount was exorbitant compared to his normal previous bill amounts. Since the complainant has not obtained any relief, he has filed this complaint for the cancellation of the said bill and for compensation for his mental agony and costs. 2. Notice was issued to the opposite parties. They entered appearance and filed statement. In the statement, the opposite parties have submitted that, the complainant is not a consumer and that he has no right to file the complaint. The telephone was originally in the name of the father of the complainant and that was legally transferred to the name of the complainant. It is stated that the opposite parties have not received any billing complaint from the complainant till date and that the complainant paid the disputed amount on 30-03-2007 and there was no anomaly in billing. It is further stated that on verification it was found that some software error occurred while transferring call data from Thanneermukkom exchange to T.R. Billing unit. Later this omission was found out and charge for the non-billed calls were included in bill dated 07-03-2007. The opposite parties by affidavit dated 08-05-2008 submitted that the complainant has paid the entire outstanding bill in full. 3. Considering the contentions of the parties, this Forum has raised the following issues: 1) Whether there is any deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite parties? 2) Whether the complainant is entitled to get compensation and costs. 4. Issues 1 and 2: - On the side of the complainant he has produced 6 documents in evidence marked as Exts. A1 to A6. Ext. A1 is the copy of the bill dated 07-03-2007 for the amount of Rs. 1,854/-. Ext. A2 is the approval of the change of telephone connection. Ext. A3 is the Bill dated 07-09-2007 for a sum of Rs. 428/- issued to the complainant by the opposite parties. Ext. A4 is the Bill dated 07-11-2007 issued to the complainant for a sum of Rs. 647/-. Ext. A5 is the Bill dated 07-01-2008 for a sum of Rs. 1,298/-. Ext. A6 is the letter dated 30-04-2008 issued by the opposite party in favour of the complainant. In this letter, the opposite parties have stated that they are admitting that due to some technical problems the LCC was billed in lump sum in the bill dated 07-03-2007 issued to the complainant in respect of the telephone and expressed the regret of the opposite party in causing hardships to the complainant. On the side of the opposite parties, they have produced 6 documents in evidence marked as Exts. B1 to B6. Ext. B1 is the transfer of telephone. Ext. B2 is the copy of the Bill. Ext. B3 is the Bill dated 07-01-2006 for a sum of Rs. 492/-. Ext. B4 (a) is the Bill dated 07-03-2006 for Rs. 397/-. Ext. B4 (b) is the Bill dated 07-05-2006 for Rs. 398/-. Ext. B4 (c) is the Bill for Rs. 404/- Ext. B4 (d) is the Bill for Rs. 404/-. Ext. B4 (e) is the Bill for Rs. 404/- Ext. B4 (f) is the Bill for Rs. 404/-. Ext. B5 is the statement of local manual updation and Ext. B6 is the details of calls from 01-01-2006 to 28-02-2007. All the above bills are issued to the complainant for payments. On a perusal of the above said documents it can be seen that the disputed bill dated 07-03-2007 issued by the opposite parties to the complainant is highly exorbitant rate compared to his previous bills issued to the complainant. It is prepared without assessing the actual calls of the complainant and without any prevailing norms. The contentions raised by the opposite parties cannot be accepted as a valid ground. Even though, there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties, the complainant has remitted the disputed amount before the opposite parties. Since there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties, the complainant is entitled to get compensation from the opposite parties. Considering the various aspects of this case, we hereby direct the opposite parties to pay an amount of Rs. 2,000/- (Rupees Two Thousand only) to the complainant by way of compensation for his mental agony, loss and inconvenience and for gross negligence on the part of the opposite parties. We further direct the opposite parties to pay the said compensation to the complainant within one month from the date of receipt of this order. No orders as to costs. Complaint allowed. Pronounced in Open Forum on this the 28th day of July, 2008. Sd/- Sri. K.Anirudhan Sd/- Sri. Jimmy Korah Sd/- Smt. N.Shajitha Beevi APPENDIX Evidence of the Complainant: - PW1 - M.N. Dayatmaji Ext. A1 07-03-2007 Copy of Bill Ext. A2 03-04-2007 Approval of the change of telephone connection Ext. A3 07-09-2007 Copy of Bill Ext. A4 07-11-2007 Copy of Bill Ext. A5 07-01-2008 Copy of Bill Ext. A6 30-04-2008 Letter from B.S.N.L. to Sri. M.N. Dayatmaji Evidence of the Opposite parties: - Ext. B1 03-04-2007 Approval of the change of telephone connection Ext. B2 - Copy of Bill Ext. B3 07-01-2006 Copy of Bill Ext. B4 (a) 07-03-2006 Bill for Rs. 397/- Ext. B4 (b) 07-05-2006 Bill for Rs. 398/- Ext. B4 (c) 07-07-2006 Bill for Rs. 404/- Ext. B4 (d) 07-09-2006 Bill for Rs. 404/- Ext. B4 (e) 07-11-2006 Bill for Rs. 404/- Ext. B4 (f) 07-01-2007 Bill for Rs. 404/- Ext. B5 - Statement of local call manual updation Ext. B6 - Details of calls from 01-01-2006 to 28-02-2007. // True Copy // By Order Senior Superintendent To Complainant/Opposite parties/SF Typed by: Sh/- Compd by:
