Ortel Communications Ltd. vs Sudatta Jeevan

THE complainant, a student of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering obtained an internet connection from the petitioner, which was activated on 1.10.2005. At about 2.00 p.m. on 9.10.2005, the modem which the petitioner had supplied to the complainant, exploded, as a result of which the entire computer unit including the UPS, cable LAN and the modem got burnt. The case of the complainant is that at the time the explosion took place the computer system was not in operation and the power had been switched off. On a written complaint being lodged by the complainant a technical team of the petitioner inspected the site of explosion and noticed that there was no damage to any electrical appliance such as refrigerator, air conditioner, etc. Based upon the report of its technical team the petitioner informed the complainant that the explosion was not on account of any power leakage in the cable network. Being aggrieved from the stand taken by the petitioner the complainant approached the Orissa State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (for short, the State Commission) seeking the following reliefs: "(a) For damage of computer unit: Rs. 29,800 such as CPU, UPS, Monitor, etc.

(b) For cost of Modem: Rs. 1,750.

(c) For non -use of internet connection (home smart): Rs. 2,410.

(d) For loss of valuable information stored which cannot be recovered: Rs. 3,00,000.

(e) For mental agony and loss of future: Rs. 5,50,000.

(f) For Treat to life: Rs. 11,50,000

(g) For litigation :Rs. 10,000

(h) For conveyance, loss of time, Xerox, telephone and misc. expenses: Rs. 6,040."

The complaint was resisted by the appellants on the ground that no power/electrical current passes through the internet cable and there was no sign of high current flowing in the said cable, which otherwise was highly insulated and permitted only the cable signals to pass through it. It was also pointed out that there was no sign of any burn/damage to the cable connectivity port which had been supplied to the complainant. On the request of the complainant the State Commission directed one Ashish Mohanty, Computer Engineer to inspect the site and submit his report. Mr. Mohanty submitted a report, stating therein that the entire computer unit, viz., UPS, LAN cable and cable modem as well as mother board had been burnt and the system had got fully damaged.

THE complainant engaged the services of one Mr. Saroj Kumar Nayak, Hardware Engineer who claims to have visited the residence of the complainant on 10.10.2005 and inspected the damaged computer unit. The report of Mr. Nayak inter alia reads as under: "A. From the Cesco''s line current flows connecting to metre and main switch of a consumer through bridges wherefrom the current is supplied to every room of the house and in case of flow of high voltage beyond the capacity the fuses in bridges are bound to born and thereby the supply line to the whole of the house remains disconnected. Even in case of passage of high voltage, the other electrical goods of the house i.e. fan, refrigerator, bulbs, etc., would be damaged which is not a fact in the present case.

B. The Computer system with modem, etc., were kept in the bed room and current is supplied to UPS through which current flows to different parts of Computer System. In the present case the explosion took place during lunch hour at about 2 p.m. when the Computer System was not in service and the power was switched off.

In order to explain the current supply to UPS and then to CPU through SMPS and the different connections to different parts have been broadly shown in a diagram.

C. The UPS controls the fluctuation of current and saves the entire computer system from damage. In case of a high voltage beyond the bearable capacity, the FUSE of UPS burns first so that the current supply to other parts break.

D. The CPU is the main part of the Computer where current flows to SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) through UPS. The SMPS saves the mother board and other components from passage of high voltage. In the instant case the SMPS is intact and thus there is no chance of believing that high voltage has passed through customer''s switch board and/or UPS.

E. The internal photograph of a model intact modem would show that in case of passage of current through RF Port, the RF 45 Port would burn and cause destruction within a few seconds but the RF Port would take much time to burn and possibly by the time the other parts get destroyed, there would be break of power for which the RF Port would not burn easily as happened in the present case.

F. The digital photograph of the modem in question supplied by the opposite parties would show the burn mark of RJ 45. RJ 45 - Lan cable connects the lan port of CPU which got burnt/damaged due to heavy power flow through it.

G. The opposite parties have submitted a misleading statement that power stoppers have been used which restrict power flow to the customer''s computer or TV set. It may lead to a conclusion that if power stoppers fail or not used, then the passage of current through cable lan cannot be ruled out.

In the instant case this has happened due to negligence and service fault of the opposite parties.

H. There is no earthing/wiring defect in the house of the petitioner and had that been so, the customer would have faced the problems of other electronic/electrical goods."

The petitioner company submitted an affidavit of its Executive Engineer Shri Smruti Ranjan Badu who had inspected the site on 10.10.2005. In his affidavit, Mr. Badu inter alia stated as under: "1...............

That, I had attended the complaint in question on date 10.10.2005 along with one of my colleague engineers Sri Samaresh Pati.

That, there was no sign of high current flow through the cable as there was no burn marks on the cable and the centre conductor of the cable supplied by us.

THAT , on inspection of the cable modem only the LAN port/RJ 45 port was found to be burnt and the RF port where our cable is connected was found to be OK. The LAN port has been burnt possibly because of back flow of current from customer''s UPS to modem and CPU as both are connected to UPS. This might have occurred due to problems of earthing or wiring at the customer''s premises as the building infrastructure is an old one and not maintained properly.

THAT , the cable TV connection and the other internet connections provided from the same amplifier were found to be OK for which it can be inferred that there was no such current flow in the cable. No current even flows at any point of time through the cable and in view of our using power stoppers there is no chance of either current flowing to the customer''s equipment of back flowing from customer''s equipments to the cable line." 4. The State Commission vide impugned order dated 26.10.2007, directed the petitioner to pay a consolidated sum of Rs. 1,00,000 to the complainant towards price of the computer system, compensation for mental agony and cost of litigation. Being aggrieved from the order of the State Commission, the petitioner is before us by way of this revision petition.

We have heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner. Since no one appeared for the respondent, we did not have the benefit of hearing her or her Counsel.

A conjoint perusal of the diagram of the modem submitted by the petitioner and the diagram submitted by the complainant along with her rejoinder before the State Commission would show that there were four ports in the modem which the petitioner had provided to the complainant. The top port mailed RF Cable Connector connected the modem to the incoming signal from the petitioner -company via the cable splitter; the second port with DC power input jack connected the modem to the modem power adaptor. The third port known as USB serial port connected the modem to the USB port of the computer, whereas the fourth/last port known as RJ -45 Ethernet port connected the modem to the Ethernet port on the computer and IC card. Admittedly, a UPS had also been connected by the complainant to her computer system. Admittedly, the UPS was receiving AC electricity supply from the electricity main and the voltage of the power supply was 220. The function of the adaptor (of the modem) which was connected to the UPS was to convert AC 220 V supply into DC 12 V supply, thereby ensuring that the modem receive DC 12 V and not AC 220 V supply of electricity. There was an electricity wire which connected the UPS to the CPU of the computer system and provided uninterrupted power supply of 220 V to the CPU. It is also an admitted case that a LAN cable connected RJ 45 port of the CPU with the RJ 45 port of the modem which the petitioner had supplied to the complainant.

IT is an undisputed case that the internet signals were received by the modem through RF cable connector via a cable splitter. Admittedly, the RF cable connector which was the first port on the modem was not found burnt or damaged in any manner, after the explosion had taken place. On the other hand RJ 45 port of the modem and that of the CPU were found wholly burnt.

THE case of the complainant has been that since the appellants/opposite parties had provided the internet connection through electric pole of CISCO and did not have its own cable pole, the cable of the appellants would have come into contact with high flow electricity on the electric pole and the said high electric voltage would have got transmitted to the computer system of the complainant through the modem provided by the appellants. In our view, the electric current could not have got transmitted to the computer unit of the complainant in the aforesaid manner. It is an admitted case that RF port of the UPS, through which internet signals were received by the modem, was found intact after the explosion. Neither it had burnt nor had it got damaged. Had the electric current passed from the electric pole to the RF port through the internet cable wire as is claimed by the complainant, the RF port would have got burnt or fully damaged. Though the case of the complainant is that the RF port is a stronger point on the modem and would take much more time as compared to the port RJ 45 to burn, there is absolutely no material on record which would show that RF port was a stronger port as compared to RJ 45 port. Even if it is presumed for the sake of argument that RJ 45 was a rather weaker port of the modem, some damage would certainly have been caused to RF port when the RJ 45 port had got wholly burnt on account of the passage of electricity through the said port. Moreover, not only the RF port remained wholly undamaged, even the internet cable which connected the device on the pole to the modem was also not found burnt. The case of the appellants is that in fact electric connection cannot pass through the said internet cable. The appellants have placed on record a report dated 3.11.2004 from the Standard Testing Laboratory, Government of Orissa which clearly shows that the internet cable was an insulated cable. The laboratory on testing found that neither 230 V AC current or even 63 V AC current could pass through the said cable. The aforesaid report totally belies the case set up by the complainant and clearly shows that the electric current could not have reached the modem through the internet cable providing internet signals to the modem through its RF port. We see absolutely no reason to give preference to the private opinion of Shri Smruti Ranjan Badu over the test certificate of the Standard Testing Laboratory, which was based upon the actual test carried out by the said laboratory on the internet cable, which is connected to the RF port of the modem. Yet another circumstance which rules out flow of high current through the internet cable is that had there been any such flow that would have affected not only the modem of the complainant but also the modem of all the customers who are being served through that particular amplifier and would have damaged the appliances as well as the computer systems of all the subscribers who were getting internet signals through that amplifier. The officials of the appellants namely Shri Smruti Ranjan Badu, Executive Engineer and Mr. Samaresh Pati, Executive Engineering, when they visited the spot noticed that there was no sign of high current flowing through the cable nor was there any burn mark on the cable and the conductor. The report also shows that the cable providing signals to the premises of the customer had power stoppers built in it, which restrict the power inflow to the computer and also blocks any kind of back flow of the current from the equipment of the customer to the network of the service provider. In their opinion, there was a possibility of back flow of current from the UPS of the customer to the modem and CPU both of which are connected to the UPS. In their opinion, there was a possibility of electrical earthing or wire problem at the premises of the customer, the building being quite old and not maintained properly.

IT appears to us that the incident of explosion occurred due to back flow of the current from the UPS which the complainant had installed for the purpose of providing uninterrupted power supply to her computer system and the said back flow from the UPS entered the CPU which admittedly was connected to the UPS. Such back flow could be due to some malfunctioning or fault in the UPS. The high back flow of current from the UPS may also have reached the RJ 45 port of the modem through the adaptor which was capable of converting AC 220 V current into DC 12 V current but could not have handled a sudden flow of electric current at a much higher voltage. Be that as it may, what is important is that the onus was on the complainant to prove that her computer system got damaged on account of some negligence or deficiency in service provided by the appellants, but the complainant has failed to discharge the said onus placed upon her.

AS regards the contention of the complainant that the other gadgets and appliances available in her premises had not got burnt or damaged, we are of the opinion that nothing really turns on it since only those appliance would be affected which receive electric current at a rather high voltage. In case the appliances are switched off and/or were not receiving electric current at a high voltage there can be no question of their getting burnt or damaged. For the reasons stated hereinabove, we are unable to uphold the decision rendered by the State Commission. The appeal is, therefore, allowed and the impugned order dated 26.10.2007 passed by the State Commission in Consumer Complaint No. 88/05 is hereby set aside. The amount which the appellants had deposited pursuant to an interim order of this Commission be refunded to the appellants unless it has already paid to the respondent. In case the said amount has already been paid to the respondent in terms of the interim order dated 13.12.2007, the respondent shall deposit the said amount in this Commission, within two weeks of receiving a copy of this order and, thereafter, it shall be released to the appellants. If the respondent fails to deposit the said amount, the appellants shall be entitled to recover the same from her in accordance with law.