M.T.N.L. vs H.R.SHARMA

MR. H.R. Sharma, complainant for short approached District Forum-I by a complaint dated 5.8.1992 with the grievance that he was a practising Advocate and his telephone installed at his residence-cum-office became dead again and again and for days together the same was not set right, inspite of numerous complaints and requests to various Senior functionaries of the MTNL. He mentioned details of the dates during which the telephone remained out of order as also of the large number of complaints made by him to various authorities. The District Forum allowed the complaint and held the failure of the opposite party to set right the telephone within a reasonable time every time it was reported to be out of order to amount to deficiency in service. The opposite party was directed to give rental rebate to the complainant for the period 30th May, 1992 to 3rd August, 1992 pay compensation amounting to Rs. 2,000/- and Rs. 500/- as costs.

AGGRIEVED by the order, the opposite party filed this appeal. Reply has been filed by the respondent. We have heard learned Counsel for the appellant, the respondent having failed to appear when the appeal came up for hearing. We have also scanned the record. The contention of Mr. S. Pattjoshi is that the amount awarded was excessive and the District Forum failed to take notice of the principles laid down by the National Commission for awarding the amount of compensation. He submitted that the telephone was out of order for a total period of about 20 days and the compensation awarded was disproportionately high. We find that according to the days mentioned by the complainant, the telephone remained out of order for about two months. According to the days furnished in the appeal, by the appellant, the telephone remained dead for about 28 days. We have no reason to disbelieve the complainant with regard to the days during which the telephone was not working. Especially when on each occasion the complainant was obliged to file a number of complaints. One can easily imagine the difficulty and discomfiture faced by the subscriber, especially engaged in rendering professional services when for weeks together the telephone remained dead and not set right inspite of repeated complaints. We find no reason to interfere in the order passed by the District Forum. The appeal is dismissed as being without merit. A copy of the order be furnished to the parties and also sent to the District Forum-I. Appeal dismissed.