DIST. CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM
NORTH 24 Pgs., BARASAT.
C. C. CASE NO. 237/2016
Date of Filing: Date of Admission Date of Disposal:
20.04.2016 29.04.2016 05.06.2018
Complainant = Vs. = O.Ps.
Mr. Masud Karim Sarkar, 1. Prop. M/S Neel Jyoti( LPG Distributor of
S/O Lutfar Rahaman Sarkar, Bharat Gas) Constituted Under the
C/O Md. Ismail Banamalipur Companies Act, 1956 and carrying on
( Near Masjid), its business at his registered office at,
North 24 Parganas 415, Barrackpore, Barasat Road,
Now residing at Shalbagan, Barasat, Dist: N. 24 Parganas
C/O Sk. Samir, Kolkata- 700125.
80/A, Mallickpara Lane, 2. Manager,
P.O: Mallickpara, M/S Neel Jyoti ( LPG Distributor of
P.S:Serampore, Bharat Gas), Constituted under
Dist: Hooghly, the Companies Act, 1956 and carrying
Pin- 712203. on its business at his registered office at
415, Barrackpore, Barasat Road
Shalbagan, Barasat, Dist: N. 24 Parganas
Kolkata- 700125.
P R E S E N T :- Sri Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay………..…..President.
:- Sri Siddhartha Ganguli ………………………….Member.
Ld. Advocate for the Complainant :- Nafisa Khan
Ld. Advocate for the OPs :- Anirban Biswas
Final Order & Judgment
An Application has been filed by the complainant U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 alleging deficiency in service on the part of the OPs and prays for a direction to be given upon the O.Ps to make an arrangement to transfer the gas connection of the complainant from the O.Ps distributorship to M/S Anand Gas Service, Serampur, Hooghly within a specified period of time and further prays for a direction to be given upon the O.Ps to pay a sum of Rs. 35,000/ as compensation and Rs. 6000/as cost of extra fuel charges for arrangements of alternative means of fuel other than L.P. G for the purpose of cooking food etc. during the intervening period and further Rs. 7000/ as litigation cost.
Typed & Corrected by me
Member Cont……P/2
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C. C. CASE NO. 237/2016
The gist facts of the case of the complainant is that on 11.08.2010 the complainant got a new service connection of LPG Gas of the O.Ps for a single cylinder and he deposited Rs.1250/ as security for single gas connection and Rs.150/ for regulator and became a customer of the O.Ps being Consumer No: 16739, LPG ID No: 1000-0000-2608-2698, linked A/C No: 68000913505 and card serial No: C- 1861201 and on that day he purchased some other articles from the O.Ps amounting to Rs. 2565/.
It is stated by the complainant that due to transfer of his service, the complainant had to shift his residence from Barasat to Serampore and therefore he approached personally to the office of the O.Ps on 09.10.2015 with a request to transfer his existing LPG Gas connection from O.Ps distributorship to M/S Anand Gas Service, Serampore which is situated near the vicinity of his new address but he was told from the office of the O.Ps to come on 11.10.2015 at 10.30am and accordingly the complainant went to the office of the O.Ps on the said date and time and again he was advised to come on 14.10.2015 stating the reason that the Manager of the O.Ps was absent. Further on 14.10.2015 the complainant was told that due to Manager’s illness the O.Ps were unable to process and requested to come on 16.10.2015 and accordingly the Complainant went to the office of the O.Ps on 16.10.2015 and initially the Manager refused to do the job but when he was informed that already the complainant visited 4 times in order to get his LPG Connection transferred the Manager agreed to do the job and asked some money for such work. When asked on what purpose he was asking money the Manager refused to give any reason but started doing works in his computer related to transfer of LPG connection of the complainant. The Manager after such works stated the complainant that instead of M/S Anand Gas Service as desired by the complainant the connection has been transferred mistakenly to M/S Balaram Distributor and he was told to come after puja vacation. It is the allegation of the complainant that as he did not pay the money as asked by the Manager of the O.Ps he had to suffer for that and became a victim. However the complainant visited the office of the O.Ps and met the Manager of the O.P after puja vacation on 01.11.2015 but the staff of the O.Ps told him that the Manager would not come on that day. When requested to the other staffs to do the rectification the staffs of the O.Ps denied to do the same stating that it was the Manager who was entrusted to do the particular job. A phone number was provided to the complainant but none picked up the phone on 13.11.2015.
Typed & Corrected by me
Member Cont……P/3
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C. C. CASE NO. 237/2016
On 15.11.2015 before going to the office of the O.Ps the complainant made calls and one person picked up the phone after several try and informed the complainant that the Manager would not come on that day and advised to come on 17.11.2015.Similar incident happened on 17.11.2015. It is the allegation of the complainant that he has been harassed by the O.Ps and ultimately he found that his service connection has been showing as blocked status when checked in online. Finding no way the complainant wrote two letters to the O.Ps dated 08.12.2015 & 19.01.2016 respectively but got no positive response from the O.Ps.
Finding no other alternative, the complainant files this case against the O.Ps praying for the reliefs as prayed in the petition of complainant.
Reliefs Sought For:-
- Make arrangements to transfer the said gas connection of the Complainant from O.P office i.e M/S Neel Jyoti ,Barasat to M/S Anand Gas Service, Serampore, Hooghly within a specified period of time failing which necessary liberty be given to the complainant to put the award under process of execution;
- To pay a sum of Rs.35,000/ or more or less the sum as assessed by the Hon’ble Forum to the Complainant towards the physical strain, mental agony, damages for harassment etc. as has been suffered by the complainant;
- Pay a sum of Rs.6000/ to the complainant by the O.Ps towards the cost of extra fuel charges for arrangements of alternative means of fuel other than LPG for the purpose of cooking food etc. during the intervening period of about six months.
- Pay a sum of Rs.7000/ to the complainant towards the cost of litigation;
- A further and other relief as the complainant is entitled to.
The complainant along with his complaint petition files the following documents:-
- Copy of letter dated 19.01.2016 addressed to the Manager, M/S Neel Jyoti LPG Distributor
2. Copy of mail dated 07.12.2015
3. Copy of cash Memo dated 11.08.2010
4. Copy of SV Voucher No: 001639524.
5. Copy of money receipt of Rs.1040/ dated 09.10.2015.
7. Copy of installation slip dated 09.10.2015.
8. Copy of Subscription voucher No: 000760316
9. Copy of LPG book .
Copy of information / Consumer Console.
10. Other related copies filed by the complainant.
Typed & Corrected by me
Member Cont……P/4
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C. C. CASE NO. 237/2016
Notices were sent to the O.Ps. The O.P No: 1 appeared through his Ld. Advocate but did not file any W/V. Despite receiving of notice the O.P No: 2 did not appear before the Forum. Subsequent to appearance the O.P No:1 did not appear further and contest the case by filing W/V and therefore the case has been proceeded ex-parte against the O.Ps.
During hearing the complainant filed written affidavit- in -Chief.
From the complaint petition, evidence of the complainant and other materials on record the following points have been framed:
- Is the complainant a consumer?
- Are the OPs deficient in service?
- Is the complainant entitled to get any relief or reliefs as prayed for?
-:Decision with Reasons:-
All the points have been taken together for the sake of brevity and avoidance of repetition of facts.
It is evident from the evidence of the complainant that he had a LPG gas connection of Bharat Gas under the distributorship of O.Ps being Consumer No: 16739, being LPG ID No: 1000-0000-2608-2698.
Further it is seen from the evidence of the Complainant that he made an application for transfer of his LPG gas connection from the O.Ps distributorship to his desired distributor namely M/S Anand Gas Service ,at Serampore, Hooghly.
Further it is seen from the evidence of the complainant that his service connection has been shown as blocked status. The complainant has been harassed by the O.Ps as the O.Ps did not provide proper service to the complainant.
Here the complainant is a consumer of the O.Ps as per the definition of ‘Consumer’ given u/s 2(1)(d) of the C.P Act,1986 and the O.Ps were deficient in service.
The unchallenged testimony of the complainant proves his case.
Regarding the quantum of compensation and litigation cost we think that an amount of Rs.5000/ as compensation and Rs.3000/ as litigation cost are just and proper to mitigate the sufferings of the complainant.
Hence
It is ordered that the Consumer Complaint being No. CC 237/2016 is allowed Ex-Parte against Ops.
Typed & Corrected by me
Member Cont……P/5
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C. C. CASE NO. 237/2016
The O.Ps are jointly and severally directed to transfer the LPG gas connection of the complainant from their distributorship to M/S Anand Gas Service, Serampore , Hooghly or any nearest LPG distributor of Bharat Gas where the complainant is residing presently within one month from the date of this order.
The OP.S are jointly and severally directed to pay compensation of Rs. 5,000/- and litigation cost of Rs. 3,000/- totaling Rs.8,000/- to the complainant within one month from the date of this Order, in default the complainant is at liberty to put the entire order under Execution as per the Provisions of the C.P. Act 1986.
Let free copies of this Order be given to the parties concerned as per the provision of C.P. Rules & Regulations.
Member President
Typed and Corrected by me.
Member
