2011: Consumer fora fix high benchmark

The hospital,where a fire recently killed over 90 people,was asked to pay the compensation by the National Consumer Commission to US-based NRI doctor for the death of his wife in 1998.

Be it airlines,banks,auto majors,insurance firms,food joints,manufacturers of electronics,gadgets and soft drinks or government wings like Railways and Postal department,all faced stringent scrutiny of consumer fora on complaints of their indulgence in unfair and deceptive trade practices.

One sector,which,however,managed to avoid the consumer fora scrutiny was that of telecom as the consumer panels found its wings clipped in hearing complaints against various telecom firms due to an apex court ruling.

An apex court Bench headed by Justice Markandey Katju since retired had in 2009 held that as per section 7B of the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885,a dispute between a consumer and a telephone service provider can be resolved only through arbitration and the consumer is barred from moving a consumer forum for redressal of grievances against a telephone company.

The apex court had said that a special law supersedes a general law and,therefore,the provision for appointment of an arbitrator in the Telegraph Act bars a consumer from seeking remedy under the Consumer Protection Act.

The consumer fora came down heavily on other sectors including aviation,awarding exemplary compensation to consumers of several airlines for their negligence and deficiency in service to fliers.

In one of such incidents,a Delhi district consumer forum directed Jet Airways to pay Rs 1.44 lakh as damages to a man for the 8220;emotional setback8221; caused to him by the death of his two pugs Jimmy and Batnu on board due to oxygen paucity.

The order came on a complaint by a Delhi resident who had booked two pugs from Mumbai in 2009 for Rs 7,020 but when the flight landed at the airport here,all that the complainant got was the carcasses of his short-muzzled face dogs.

The consumer forum also held airlines liable to compensate its fliers for delay in flights even due to bad weather,while clarifying that delay due to weather may not be a deficiency in service.

A Delhi district forum ordered Oman Aviation Services to pay Rs 25,000 to a lawyer and his wife,who had to wait at Delhi Airport for 10 hours in December 2005 as their flight to UAE via Muscat was delayed due to fog and low visibility.

In a case involving Indian Railways,the state monolith was ordered by the NCDRC to compensate a senior citizen as he fell ill during the journey and could not avail expeditious medical help due to late running of his train due to unduly long halt at a little known station without basic amenities.

The apex consumer body had also directed a Kerala post office to reimburse a job aspirant for his air travel as delay in delivery of his interview letter,sent through 8216;Speed Post8217;,forced him to take a flight to appear in the test.

The aspirant had to reach Delhi from Kollam to appear in the interview for a job with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation but the letter was delivered to him just three days before the interview,making it impossible for him to reach his destination on time by train.

The premier luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz too faced consumer fora scrutiny as the company and one of its Chennai-based dealers were ordered by the NCDRC to pay Rs 2 lakh as damages to a customer for selling him a used demo car.

In another case,soft drinks major Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages was ordered to pay a compensation to a businessman who found a dead fly inside a sealed Limca bottle.

In a case related to banking sector,Delhi State Consumer Commission had also ruled that a bank cannot be compelled to give loan 8220;under any law or procedure8221; to a consumer and the latter cannot demand damages for expenses incurred in applying for the process.

The commission gave its order dismissing an appeal by three persons against ING Vysya Bank seeking compensation from it for rejecting their loan applications.

But in another case related to banking sector,a consumer fora censured the ICICI Bank8217;s 8220;callous and devil-may-care attitude8221; and ordered it to pay compensation to one of its customers against whom the bank had lodged a criminal case for non-payment of a car loan which he never took.

Dealing with the unfair trade practice of insurance firms rejecting the claim on pretext or the other,the Delhi State Commission had ruled that a driver injured in an accident of his vehicle due to mechanical defects cannot be denied insurance claim on the ground that he did not have a valid licence at the time of the mishap.

In one such incident,the commission ordered Bajaj Allianz General Insurance firm to pay damages to a driver citing a Supreme Court judgement which said if the accident took place due to a mechanical fault,the insurance company8217;s contention that he did not have a valid licence could not be a ground to deny the claim.