A district consumer disputes redressal forum here has directed Indian Oil Corporation to compensate a complainant by paying ₹40,000 for non-settlement of a claim raised by the latter following a gas leak incident.
Holding Indian Oil and the gas service agency deficient in services, the consumer panel said: “Non-settlement of the claim of the complainant by the opposite parties amounts to deficiency in services on its part.”
The directions came when the consumer panel was hearing a plea moved by city resident Naseeb Kaur who alleged that a gas leak from a cylinder left the family injured.
“As the complainant and other family members started running out of the house, a blast in the form of ball of fire in the air occurred and the glasses of the window in the kitchen were set on fire. The leakage in the gas cylinder was entirely because of the defect in gas cylinder…,” the consumer panel said.
‘No FIR in case’
However, Indian Oil contended that the complaint should be dismissed as the burner, gas tube and pressure regulator were intact even after the alleged incident and there was no FIR registered.
The gas service centre also argued that the complainant had failed to produce evidence of the incident.
Dismissing the contentions put forth, the consumer panel said: “The complainant has placed on record photographs of burnt articles which clarified the fire mishap had occurred and the same was due to leakage in cylinder. The claim of the complainant cannot be denied merely because no FIR was registered by the police regarding the incident in question.”
An additional amount of ₹25,000 was directed to be paid as compensation towards mental agony and harassment.
