BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, KAITHAL.
Complaint Case No.31 of 2019.
Date of institution: 05.02.2019.
Date of decision:20.11.2019.
Gaurav Wadhwa aged 36 years, son of Sh. Madan Lal Wadhwa, resident of Mohalla Bohpatti, Village and Post Office Siwan, Tehsil and Distt. Kaithal.
…Complainant.
Versus
- Jio Care/Centre Karnal-Kaithal Road, Gobind Colony, Adarash Nagar, Kaithal (Haryana)-136027.
- Reliance Jio Head Office, Reliance Corporate Park, No.8 A Wing, Ist Floor, 5 TTC Industrial Area, Thane Belapur Road, Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai-400701.
….Respondents.
Before: Sh. D.N.Arora, President.
Sh. Rajbir Singh, Member.
Smt. Suman Rana, Member.
Present: Complainant in person.
Sh. Sanjeev Moudgil, Advocate for the OPs.
ORDER
D.N.ARORA, PRESIDENT
The complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 12 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, with the averments that the complainant is an Advocate by profession and having a 4G Jio Sim bearing No.9050467000 and he used to recharge the said sim as per the plan of Ops of Rs.399/-. It is alleged that since purchase of the above-said 4G sim, the complainant is suffering of slow speed of internet and many places, the range of above-said sim is low. It is further alleged that the complainant is also facing problem in outgoing and incoming calls. It is further alleged that the complainant made a complaint on 26.01.2019 through e-mail at Jiocare-com and reply of said e-mail was also came on 26.01.2019 at 07.54 p.m. wherein it was mentioned that his service request number is SR00000UZX7W and he will receive an update by 28.01.2018 but the Ops did not redress the grievances of complainant. So, it is a clear cut case of deficiency in service on the part of Ops and prayed for acceptance of complaint. Hence, this complaint.
2. Upon notice, the OPs appeared before this Forum and contested the complaint by filing their reply raising preliminary objections with regard to locus-standi; maintainability; that the complainant is estopped by own conduct because it is hard to understand as to why an individual would recharge when the said individual complaints qua the services being provided; that there is no deficiency in service on the part of Ops. On merits, it is stated that as per the survey done by the engineer in the vicinity where the complainant is residing, the speed was found to be varying from <2 mbps to 4 mbps; that the area where the complainant is residing is dense/congested and there can be intermittent speed issues especially at peak hours; that the allegation made by the complainant qua slow speed of internet may also arise due to geographical and technical constraints, which are beyond the control of Telecom Service provider and addressing such issues can take considerable time. The other objections raised in the preliminary objections are reiterated and so, prayed for dismissal of complaint.
3. The complainant tendered into evidence affidavit Ex.CW1/A and documents Annexure-C1 & Annexure-C2s and thereafter, closed the evidence.
4. On the other hand, the Ops tendered into evidence affidavits Ex.RW1/A, Ex.RW1/B and document Annexure-R1 and thereafter, closed the evidence.
5. We have heard both the parties and perused the record carefully.
6. Undisputedly, the complainant is having a 4G Jio Sim bearing No.9050467000 and he used to recharge the said sim as per the plan of Ops of Rs.399/-. The dispute between the parties is that according to the complainant, since purchase of the above-said 4G sim, the complainant is suffering of slow speed of internet and many places, the range of above-said sim is low. The grievance of the complainant is that he made a complaint on 26.01.2019 through e-mail at Jiocare-com but the Ops did not redress the grievances of complainant.
On the other hand, ld. counsel for the Ops contended that as per the survey done by the engineer in the vicinity where the complainant is residing, the speed was found to be varying from <2 mbps to 4 mbps. He has placed reliance upon the report Annexure R1 in this regard.
7. We have perused the case file. The complainant made complaint through e-mail on 26.01.2019 regarding the slow speed of internet and reply of said e-mail Annexure-C1 was also came on 26.01.2019 at 07.54 p.m. wherein it was mentioned that his service request number is SR00000UZX7W and he will receive an update by 28.01.2018. On 27.01.2019 at about 2.09 p.m. the complainant received an e-mail Annexure-C2 from the Ops, which is read as under:=
“This is an update on Service Request number SR00000UZX6W for Network connectivity. Regret to inform you that the location for which you had raised a concern may face intermittent issues. We have noted your concern and will be taking steps to improve connectivity in that area as we expand our network in the future. At present we are unable to commit a date, we appreciate your patience. If you are not satisfied with the resolution, please call us on 198 write to care @ jio.com. You may also raise an appeal with Appellate.”
So, from the said e-mail, it is clear that the complainant was suffering from slow speed of internet. It is pertinent to mention here that the complainant is an Advocate and we are of the view that now-a-days, the internet facility is very necessary and the complainant has been deprived to work on the internet and he also became handicapped due to not downloading the important documents and could not conversant with the latest law within time. The Ops have placed on record latest survey report dt. 20.08.2019 regarding coverage of the network problem in the area of Siwan, Kaithal wherein it is mentioned as under:-
“State network team has visited the customer’s locality and done network testing at various hot spots in the periphery of Siwan, Kaithal, Haryana. The entire NW result (at 4.19 mbps) shared for customer was for optimal speed only, at speed > than 2 mbps. Also, as mentioned in the solution shared to the customer that “He might face intermittent speed issues at the peak hours and we are taking steps to improve our connectivity in the customer location as we expand our network in future”. Please note that we did take require action and the planned site “I-HR-KTHL-ENB-6042” was made live in June 2019. As per the latest survey done “Excellent NW coverage results are found in vicinity of customer location with reference to all the NW parameters including the speed test results varying from 10 mbps to 15 mbps.”
It is also mentioned in the survey report as under:-
- The earlier NW result (at 4.19 mbps) shared for customer was for optimal speed only, at speed > than 2 mbps. Also, as mentioned in the solution shared to the customer that “He might face intermittent speed issues at the peak hours and we are taking steps to improve our connectivity in the customer location as we expand our network in future.
- Please note that we did take require action and the planned site “I-HR-KTHL-ENB-6042” was made live in June, 2019.
- As per the latest survey done of which snapshots are duly attached in the main-“Excellent NW coverage results are found in vicinity of customer location w.r.t. all the NW parameters including the speed test results varying from 10 mbps to 15 mbps.
From perusal of above-said report as per point No.1 to 3, it is clear that the network problem is very slow in the village Siwan. The Ops have mentioned in the report that earlier the network result (at 4.19 mbps) shared for customer was for optimal speed only, at speed > than 2 mbps. So, it is clear that the internet speed at peak hours was very slow and customer might have faced the intermittent speed issues at peak hours. They have mentioned that they are taking steps to improve their connectivity in the customer location as they expand their network in future but they have not specified that in which period they will improve the network problem. It is pertinent to mention here that generally it has been seen that the network problem in the village remain slow but the Ops are duty bound to improve the network coverage problem whenever they are taking the pre-paid or post-paid charges from the customers. In this way, there is deficiency in service on the part of Ops due to not providing the better services of network to the complainant.
8. Thus, as a sequel of above discussion, we allow the complaint partly and direct the Ops to improve the data speed/network problem and sim range within six months after receiving the copy of this order after adopting the latest technology. We further direct the Ops to pay Rs.5,000/- as litigation charges within one month after receiving the copy of this order. Both the Ops are jointly and severally liable. A copy of said order be supplied to the parties free of costs. File be consigned to record-room after due compliance.
Announced in open court:
Dt.:20.11.2019.
(D.N.Arora)
President.
(Suman Rana), (Rajbir Singh)
Member Member.
