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BSNL asked to pay for deficiency in service

CUTTACK: The Orissa State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has come down heavily on Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and directed the telephone service provider to pay a compensation of Rs. 15,000 for causing mental agony to a senior citizen.

Pradyumna Kumar Mishra, a retired government servant, was issued a ‘disputed’ telephone bill in August 1999 and when Mishra requested the authorities to rectify the impugned bill, the BSNL authorities disconnected his telephone arbitrarily in the following month.

The case of Mr. Mishra was that he received a telephone bill for Rs. 6,714 in August 1999. The bill amount was for one month’s rental charge and one month’s metered call charge. When Mr. Mishra disputed the amount in the bill and requested the competent authority to inquire and rectify it, the authorities instead of making an enquiry disconnected his telephone in September 1999.

However, when Mr. Mishra threatened to move the consumer court, the BSNL authorities revised the bill twice by giving him a rebate of 1000 units of calls each time and reduced the bill amount from Rs. 6714 to Rs. 843 in July 2006. But for the trouble and harassment of the BSNL authorities for a prolonged period, Mr. Mishra moved the consumer court claiming a compensation of Rs. 21,10,000.

The Commission however, assessed the compensation to Rs. 15,000 and directed the BSNL authorities to pay the same to the complainant by October 2007. “Failing which the compensation shall carry interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of the impugned bill,” the commission said in its order.

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