VLCC trips on weight loss, asked to pay Rs.50,000
A man signed up for a slimming programme with well-known fitness chain Vandana Luthra Curls & Curves (VLCC) to shed 30 kg weight and paid more than Rs.21,000 for it — but he didn’t lose any weight. A consumer forum granted him Rs.50,000 in damages.
The district consumer court Friday directed VLCC India Ltd. to pay the money to Saurabh Tiwari for giving him false assurances to reduce his weight.
The forum also ordered the company to pay an interest of 9 percent on the sum of Rs.21,600 that Tiwari had paid April 30, 1999. The company has also been asked to pay the customer Rs.2,000 as charges incurred by him in the course of the case.
http://www.sify.com/finance/vlcc-trips-on-weight-loss-asked-to-pay-rs-50-000-news-default-ldltuohdida.html
Conference on Consumer Rights
A Two day Conference of the Presidents, State Commissions and the Secretaries, Incharge, Consumer Affairs of the State Governments/UT Administrations is being organised by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission from Monday 14th March 2011 in New Delhi to mark the World Consumer Rights Day. The World Consumer Rights is observed on 15th March every year.
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=70903
Woman develops gangrene; NCDRC dismisses compensation plea
The National Consumer Forum has absolved a Kota government hospital doctor of charges of being medically negligent in treating a local woman, leading to loss of both her toes, which allegedly got afflicted with gangrene due to wrong treatment.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission absolved Dr R M Singhvi of the woman”s charges that she developed gangrene in her toes as the doctor heavily administered glucose to her despite knowing that she had blood sugar.
The NCDRC bench of Justice Ashok Bhan and member Suresh Chandra dismissed the woman”s complaint saying that Dr Singhvi, who treated her in the hospital at Kota “being conscious of the fact that the complainant”s blood report had indicated blood sugar in her sample, had taken due care by adding normal saline and insulin in the glucose bottles.”
http://my.news.yahoo.com/woman-develops-gangrene-ncdrc-dismisses-compensation-plea-20110310-003100-735.html
Courier company told to pay damages by consumer forum
The consumer protection forum Kanpur Nagar on Saturday asked the First Flight courier company to pay a sum of Rs 1,75,800 as damages for deficiency of services to the complainant M/S MM Electronics within 30 days.
Presiding officers LB Singh and Sumanlata Mishra observed in their order that if the courier company failed to pay the damages in stipulated time, the complainant would be entitled to realise an interest of 10% on the sum till date of payment from April 8, 2008.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Courier-company-told-to-pay-damages-by-consumer-forum/opinions/7635367.cms
Bank penalised for not issuing security cheques
A leading private bank was penalised by consumer forum for deducting monthly instalments from a customer’s bank account and not issuing loan termination letter despite he paying up the entire loan amount. The forum of P O Lad and Vandana Bhatt asked the bank to pay Rs 5,000 compensation towards mental agony, stress and loss of opportunity and time. The bank will have to pay Rs 2,000 towards the cost of filing the complaint.
Indravan Prajapati, a resident of Ellora Park had registered complaint against the bank in 2006 stating that the bank was not issuing him loan termination letter. Prajapati had taken a loan of Rs 1.78 lakh from the bank and issued three blank cheques if IDBI bank to the opponent. The loan was repaid in equal monthly instalments (EMIs) of Rs 5,136 till November 2005 and in December 2005
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Bank-penalised-for-not-issuing-security-cheques/articleshow/7658032.cms
LIC penalised for mental agony to family
The South Mumbai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has fined an insurance company for causing mental agony to a family by not releasing the amount due to them on grounds that the insured did not reveal information about his earlier life insurance policy.
In 2001, Naval Kishore Agarwal bought a life insurance worth Rs two lakh from LIC. After Agarwal’s death in 2003 his family approached the company for insurance money but their request was turned down on grounds that Agarwal did not declare the other policy to LIC.
According to the complainant Ashish, Agarwal’s son, the policy was bought through an agent who had taken his father’s signatures on policy papers but kept him in the dark about certain clauses
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/consumer-forum-fines-lic-for-mental-agony-to-family/758682/
Kingfisher told to pay Rs 15,000 for dirty water
The consumer forum last week ordered a mineral water company to pay compensation to two south Mumbai residents who found black particles in their packaged water served at a posh restaurant in 2005.
The forum ordered Kingfisher Premium, Iceberg Foods Ltd (water division) to pay the complainants- Breach Candy resident Jagit Singh and Bhulabhai Desai Road resident Sunder Jawa- a total of Rs 15,000 for causing mental agony and towards costs of the complainants.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-08/mumbai/28668129_1_mineral-water-forum-dirty-water
Woman fails to lose weight; doctor fined
A consumer forum in Ghaziabad on Saturday ordered a health centre to pay Rs 50,000 to a customer after she failed to shed flab by using a weight loss procedure developed by a lady doctor of the health centre. Sonam (44), a resident of Kavi Nagar in Ghaziabad, had went to the weight loss centre 12 years ago
but when she did not lose weight, she filed a complaint before the consumer forum.
After 12 years of litigation, forum chairman AK Srivastav passed the order against Dr Bina Jain, who ran the centre.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Woman-fails-to-lose-weight-doctor-fined/Article1-669964.aspx
Commission sets aside Rupees 20K penalty on phone company
On an appeal filed by Idea Cellular against the district consumer forum order wherein the cellular operator was directed to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation to the complainant for receiving calls despite availing the ‘Do Not Disturb (DND)’ service, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has set aside the order.
The company had challenged the consumer forum orders of September 27, 2010, on the complaint of Panchkula resident Bharat Rai Verma. In his complaint Verma alleged that he was using Idea postpaid connection since August 12, 2008, and in July, 2009 sent his first request for DND (do not disturb) but he kept on receiving calls and whenever he sent a message he received a service reply that his DND service was already activated. Verma claimed he talked to the persons concerned during November 2009 to January 2010, who assured to resolve the issue soon but the same was not done.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-06/chandigarh/28659946_1_consumer-forum-dnd-complainant
Consumers to be refunded for failure to take trip
Refund the two men who had paid for a pilgrimage to Amarnath that was never undertaken, the Central Mumbai Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum told a travel agency. Holding Jai Mata Di Holidays and Travels guilty of deficiency in service, the forum and ordered it to refund Rs 1.10 lakh to Rajendra Gor e and Rs 45,000 to Ashwinkumar Lonkar with 9% interest since October 8, 2008, the day they filed the complaint.
The agency also has to pay them Rs 10,000 each towards compensation for mental agony and Rs 5,000 each towards cost of the complaint.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Consumers-to-be-refunded-for-failure-to-take-trip/Article1-668814.aspx
Bank to pay 13K for duplicate passbook
A consumer forum on Monday held Bank of India guilty of deficiency in service after it issued two duplicate passbooks to the estranged wife of a client without his knowledge and charged him for it.
The South Mumbai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ordered the bank to pay complainant Amar Shukla Rs 13,000. It said the bank was guilty of divulging information without the account holder’s knowledge. The forum ordered the bank to pay complainant Amar Shukla Rs 13,000 for mental agony and costs of litigation.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-03/mumbai/28650166_1_passbooks-bank-manager-shukla
Pharmacy college told to returns fees
The fourth additional district consumer grievances redressal forum directed Gautham College of Pharmacy to return the admission fees of Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, a student, along with a compensation of `10,000 and `2,000 costs for misrepresenting at the time of his admission.
The college staff, during admissions informed Pankaj that the college is affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences(RGUHS) and is PCI and AICTE recognised. Pankaj had paid `30,000 admission fees and joined M.Pharma course on August 28, 2008.
http://expressbuzz.com/cities/bangalore/pharmacy-college-told-to-returns-fees/252778.html
NCDRC dismisses plea questioning price of a DDA flat
The country”s apex consumer forum has dismissed a plea by a DDA flat owner questioning the price of the flat 425 days after willingly paying the same, and accepting “the terms of allotment with open eyes.”
“The complainant cannot be allowed to raise a plea in regard to the pricing of the flat in question because he accepted the terms of allotment with open eyes and acted upon it by depositing the entire price as demanded by the DDA and has even taken the possession of the flat in question though after some delay,” a bench of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission ruled, dismissing the plea.
The plea had been raised by Delhi resident Makhan Lal Bhat, who had approached the Delhi state commission earlier in 2008 alleging delay by DDA in delivery of the flat to him besides charging from him for a middle income group flat in Jehangirpuri in 1998 a much higher price compared to a similar flat on upper floor of the building.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4975302
Medical compensation granted after 14 years
After 14 years of draining legal battle, a 50-year-old woman has received a compensation of Rs 3.39 lakh by the Oriental Insurance Company against her medical claim policy. The woman had undergone a cardiac surgery at Escorts Heart Institute after purchasing the medical claim policy in 1997, but she was denied claim for medical expenses.
Referring the long course of court trial as a travesty of justice, 50-year-old Anita Chopra said, “I got relief in more than a decade. The entire concept of consumer friendly court is a myth. My case was delayed and deferred without any logic. This constant delay has created a trauma in me.”
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Medical-compensation-granted-after-14-years/Article1-665629.aspx
Consumer forum comes to rescue of judges
Mohali District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has come to the rescue of high-profile judges and officers of the state. Aggrieved over the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority’s (GMADA) demand of non-construction charges and extension fee to allow work after the expiry of the stipulated time period, besides non-development and non-provision of basic civic amenities in their area, the Punjab Judges and Officers Rural Cooperative House Building Society had moved the Forum seeking relief. The Society had developed Punjab Judges and Officers Enclave over 14 acres in Sector 77 to provide housing to over a hundred of its members.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Consumer-forum-comes-to-rescue-of-judges/753607/