Consumer court slaps a fine of Rs 10,000 on Idea Cellular for overcharging a customer Rs 3.50
Consumer court slaps a fine of Rs 10,000 on Idea Cellular for overcharging a customer Rs 3.50u00a0
Gone are the days when mobile companies could fool you with inflated bills and conveniently forget to answer your queries. Now, you can strike back. Delivering justice in a case against Idea Cellular Limited, the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum has slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the mobile firm for overcharging a user Rs 3.50.
President of the forum SK Tandon along with its member secretary S Noor, listening to a complaint filed by Delhi businessman Mohammad Rashid Ansari, asked Idea Cellular to compensate Ansari within one month.
"It's a victory for all mobile users. The harassment and agony which I have gone through amount to much more than Rs 3.50. The compensation is too meagre but I was more interested in justice. I hope this judgement will make people aware of the tricks used by mobile companies to charge us extra," said Ansari, while talking to MiD DAY.
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Talk Time: Rashid Ansari, who won the case against Idea Cellular, at his office in Zakir Nagar in New Delhi on Thursday.u00a0
PIC/RAJEEV TYAGI |
The case
The story began almost five-and-a-half years ago when Ansari was approached by executives from Idea who promised him a better network and wider coverage. "I asked them to provide the facility of diverting all calls made to my old number to the new one. I also asked them to end the billing cycle on 17th of every month. But I received the first bill just after a week of getting the new connection, while the call-divert facility was never activated," Ansari said.
Ansari, a hardware engineer, opted for the Idea connection as the 'scheme offered to him was better.' "The mobile company took advance rental for two years and the outgoing call rate was promised at Rs 1.75 per minute. But the due amount was inflated by Rs 3.50 and the bill was generated much before the due date," said Ansari's lawyer Falak Mohammad Meo.
When Ansari, who by that time had allegedly lost more than 1,000 important phone numbers of clients and a sizeable business, decided to check the matter with the Idea customer care, he was stunned by the indifferent attitude. "I decided to file a suit when they did not even reply to the legal notice my lawyer sent to them," Ansari said.
'Big loss'
However, it proved to be a long wait. "The compensation awarded to me becomes insignificant when I compare it with the amount of money I spent. The cost of fuel spent and calls made would be equal to the compensation sum. But finally, I got justice," Ansari said.
