Consumer Complaints upheld against various ads

During July and August 2011, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) of ASCI upheld complaints made against 17 advertisements from various sectors like education, health, FMCG and restricted products. Eight other advertisements got away as the council did not uphold complaints against them.

There was a complaint relating to the Bata's "Think Weinbrenner, Think Outdoors" campaign, Maruti Suzuki, CCC also received a complaint against the advertising communication of Hindustan Unilever - Pureit Water Purifier and upheld it. A complaint against the advertisement of Triply Stainless Steel Cookware from Glen Appliances was also upheld.

In the education sector, there were a whole set of advertisement that received complaints. For T.I.M.E. – CAT’ 11/12, the claim “Largest student base: 1,30,000+ students trained for CAT’09 & CAT’10” was  rejected as the claim was not validated  by any third party nor the advertiser  had compared any data of other service providers in the same category. Similarly advertisement of Satyam and Career Launcher's ads, claims were not backed up and substantiated with data or evidence and hence the comlain was upheld for these.

A TVC of Greenlam showed an old man going through the Catholic sacrament of baptism, and thereafter his funeral which shows a coffin made with Greenlam Laminates. The TVC was proved to be extremely offensive and mocks the Roman Catholic faith, by unnecessarily using sacraments to promote its product.  The CCC concluded that the TVC appears to trivialise conversion and thus is likely to hurt religious sentiments.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd‘s Dove Damage Therapy TVC claimed that Dove is the most recommended shampoo by Indian women”, is qualified by a super stating “Based on a study conducted amongst 400 women”.  It was stated that a base size of 400 is far too small to be used to support this claim and it also does not clarify the parameters for which the Dove shampoo is recommended. This CCC thought this claim needed to be substantiated with independent technical data. complaint was upheld.

Lavanya Ayurvedic Hospital and Research Center stated in its print ad, that, “Cancer can be treated without radiation or chemotherapy.” The CCC, thought such a claim is misleading and that can jeopardise the lives of many people who may opt for this treatment. Without the backing of any scientific data and due to the absence of comments from the advertiser, the CCC upheld the complaint against this advertisement.

One of the Ford Figo advertisements stated that the “Ford Figo leaves its competition far behind”, and has made comparison of Figo Advantage with Hyundai i10 in terms of space and maintenance. The facts used in the advertisement are based on Ford’s internal benchmarking study, and  have no independent support. In the absence of comments from the advertiser, the CCC concluded that the claims made in the advertisement were not substantiated on the basis of an independent survey, and were misleading.

The TVC for the Chevrolet Beat diesel adopted the tagline of, 'India’s most fuel efficient car'. This mislead the consumers and General Motors tried to justify the same by relying upon a stray comment in an article published in `Autocar India’ of August 2011 issue. The Beat diesel advertisement uses the tagline which is same as that used by the Tata Indica eV2 in their advertisement of being “India’s most fuel efficient car”.

Titan Industries Ltd’s Fast Track Watches advertisement showed a young woman taking off her innerwear from underneath her t-shirt and holding it out as if to discard it to promote a new offer of 20% off on watches. The advertisement is offensive to women, damaging young minds, and totally unrelated to the subject of the advertisement.

During these two months, the CCC received complaints against Samsung ACs, She Comfort, Hindustan Unilever’s Pureit Marvella eWater Purifier, IMS  Learning  Resources, McDonald’s, L’Oreal India’s Garneir Fructis, Hindustan Unilver’s Clinic All Clear, Procter & Gamble Home Products  Ltd‘s - New Ariel Oxyblu – Deep Clean Technology's ad and Tata Indicom among others too. These advertisements did not contravene ASCI’s codes or guidelines.

Insurance company pays after 12 years

The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently ordered an insurance company to pay around Rs 9 lakh to the widow of one Ganesh Sawadekar, who died while crossing the tracks in Pune in 1999.

National Insurance Company Ltd had repudiated the claim on the grounds that the act of trespassing the railway line was criminal and illegal act and hence the insurance claim would not be payable. However, stating that the act cannot be called criminal, the commission observed, "When a railway line is going through the city area, we find that at many places people have to cross from unmanned crossings."

Holding the company guilty of deficiency of service for repudiating the claim on flimsy grounds, the commission said, "This is not a criminal act. It was purely an accidental death for which claim should have been allowed."

The insurance company will now pay Sangita Sawadekar Rs 5 lakh together with 7% per interest from the date of repudiation of claim in April 2001 till actual payment. She will also receive Rs 5,000 towards the cost of the complaint.

On May 15, 1999, Ganesh Sawadekar, an employee with an engineering and locomotive company, died after he was hit by a train while crossing the railway tracks in Pune. Through his company's employee welfare association, the insurance company had offered the employees a personal accident insurance policy. On payment of premium of Rs 200, the insurance company had assured to give nominees Rs 5 lakh in case of death.

Sangita filed the claim through the welfare society giving all relevant documents. However, the insurance company repudiated the claim on the ground that Ganesh had committed a "criminal act" by trespassing on the railway line and the railways did not establish the death as accidental. Sangita pleaded that she was never issued a policy of the insurance company mentioning the exclusion clause. She then filed the consumer complaint.

Minister wants LPG subsidy to be lifted

For RPN Singh, reforms begin at home. Exhorting the well-off to pay market price for cooking gas on Monday, the MoS for petroleum said he would be the first to volunteer for giving up subsidized fuel.

Addressing an industry meet on petroleum, Singh said subsidized cooking gas was meant only for the poor and the needy and the rich "should take the initiative voluntarily to give up subsidized LPG".

A cooking gas cylinder costs Rs 399 in Delhi and Rs 398 in Mumbai because of government subsidy. At current market rates, a refill would cost Rs 287 more. Depending on the international price of the fuel, the market rate of a cylinder could even shoot up to double the present price.

"There may be many others like me who would want to pay market price since subsidy is not for them. I am going to write to companies, industry associations and other stakeholders on how to go about the issue," said Singh.

Singh, who is in charge of ensuring fuel supplies throughout the country and struggling with mounting subsidy bill, appears to have been forced to look for volunteers after the ministry shelved a proposal to limit the number of subsidized cylinders to four in a year. For every subsequent refill, the proposal envisaged, consumers would have had to pay market price.

Singh said the idea is to replicate what happened some years ago, when people who could afford it stopped buying foodgrains from PDS shops despite having ration cards. His idea is to first have ministers, MPs, bureaucrats and the senior management of public sector companies to give up subsidized cooking gas voluntarily. Taking the cue, other sections like corporate executives and businessmen would also follow suit.

One way of doing it could be that affluent continue buying subsidized cooking gas and pay the difference between the market price to the oil companies directly through cheques. The other way would be that these classes start buying the blue-coloured 19-kg cylinders that are being sold at market price.

Singh said the fuel subsidy bill for this fiscal is projected at Rs 132,000 crore and such bold moves are needed to cut this down.

Indian petrol price higher than neighbouring countries

Petrol in India is not just costlier than in the neighbouring countries Pakistan and Nepal, but its price has also seen higher increase since April last year.

Even after the November 16 reduction of Rs 2.22 per litre in rates, petrol at Rs 66.42 a litre in Delhi is costlier than Rs 48.64 a litre in Pakistan.

Whereas in Sri Lanka it is Rs 61.38 per litre and Rs 65.26 per litre in landlocked Nepal. Incidentally, Nepal does not have a refinery and imports all its requirement from India.

Giving this information in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas R P N Singh said petrol price in India has risen 39 per cent, or Rs 18.49 per litre, since April 2010.

Petrol in Delhi cost Rs 47.63 per litre last year. The hike in rates in Paksitan is lower at 26 per cent - from Rs 38.74 per litre to Rs 48.64 a litre. Sri Lanka has seen a 36 per cent increase from Rs 45.23 per litre in April 2010 to Rs 61.38 a litre at present.

In Nepal, petrol price when up from Rs 49.98 per litre to Rs 65.26 a litre currently, an increase of 31 per cent.

To another question, Singh said nearly 45 per cent of the current retail price of petrol in Delhi is made up of taxes.

The refinery price of petrol is just Rs 36.82 per litre, on top of which Rs 2.25 in inland freight and marketing cost and margin is added. Besides, Rs 14.78 per litre is the excise duty component and Rs 11.07 a litre is the sales tax that Delhi government charges. Another Rs 1.50 is the commission that petrol pump dealers earn.

Failed ATM transaction - Consmer court orders SBI to pay

The Pune District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (consumer court) has directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to a woman whose account was debited of Rs 5,000 despite a failed ATM transaction of the said amount.

On July 14, 2010, Nirmala Mahadeo Hande from Pimple Saudagar had tried to withdraw Rs 5,000 from SBI’s ATM at Narpatgir chowk in Somwar Peth. However, the first ATM machine failed to dispense money even after entering the PIN. She therefore cancelled the transaction and moved on to the second ATM machine next to the first one. She had withdrawn Rs 7,000 from that machine but the ATM receipt reflected a debit amount of Rs 12,000.

Hande immediately lodged written complaint in this regard with SBI’s main branch in Pune. After continuous follow-up, the Bank deposited Rs 5,000 in her account on August 7, 2010, but on September 28, 2010, the Bank froze the account citing that internal investigation by the Bank was pending. When Hande demanded to see the CCTV footage of the ATM centre, the Bank refused to show it to her. She later approached the consumer court against the bank.

After hearing both sides, the consumer court bench headed by its president Anjali Deshmukh and member S K Kapse in their order held SBI guilty of negligence and responsible for deficiency in service. “The SBI took over an year to conclude its investigation and the complainant was unable to use principal amount from July 14, 2010 to September 10,2011,” the order stated.

Balance enquiry on your mobile

Soon non-financial transactions like balance enquiry could be moved out of bank ATMs to your mobile phones. This will work in the same way as you can check your mobile prepaid balance by dialing some specific codes. 

National Payments Corporation of India is in talks with mobile companies to facilitate banking transactions through USSD (unstructured supplementary service data) messages. USSD messages are at present used by mobile companies to enable users check pre-paid balances and get information on offers by dialing a specific code. 

These query are real-time on the telecom networks server and are therefore faster and more responsive than SMS queries.

Preventing Credit and Debit card frauds

Banking has come a long way from old times, Now we can access our bank accounts from Internet, ATM machines and even from our mobile phones. Along with it, usage of plastic money has also increased dramatically.

Most of us nowadays are using Credit and Debit cards for various purposes, from shopping to paying bills.

However, most of us are still concerned about the risks involved in these new-age banking channels. Read this excellent article on Economic Times to help you in securing your credit and debit cards and what to do in case of frauds.

Indian online population, is the third largest

A recent survey has claimed that India is set to become the third largest nation of internet users in the next two years.

A large chunk of youngsters in the country are eager to adopt new technologies with rapidly changing lifestyles and easy availability of broadband services and increasing internet penetration will help India's online retail industry to grow worth Rs 7,000 crore by 2015, the survey says.

The Social Development Foundation (ASDF) of the country's apex industry body 'ASSOCHAM' conducted the survey in ten cities during January to June 2011.

Around 5,000 shoppers, in the age group between 16-35 years in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad,Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Lucknow and Jaipur, were interviewed as part of it, 'ASSOCHAM' sources said.

"A booming economy and rising disposable incomes have contributed to the evolution of online shopping,” said D S Rawat, secretary general of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

About 40 per cent of those surveyed across the cities said they prefer to shop online due to the convenience to shop anytime during the 24 hours and one could collect detailed product information.

Consumers in Mumbai ranked number one among top five cities, who prefer shopping online and cited rising fuel prices as one of the primary reasons they do not want to visit traditional shopping hubs.

Ahmedabad ranked second where almost 55 per cent of respondents said they prefer online shopping, followed by Delhi, where 45 per cent of consumers said they would prefer not to venture outdoors for shopping.

Shoppers in Bangalore ranked 5th with 30 per cent of respondents saying they prefer to shop online, whereas 35 per cent of shoppers (mostly youngsters) said they prefer to stroll through malls for their shopping needs.

About 15 per cent of respondents said they prefer to shop at neighborhood markets and around 20 per cent of them opted for shopping at specialty stores to buy specific commodities such as groceries, apparels, toiletries and stationary.

However, a 20 per cent of the respondents said they prefer to shop at local traditional markets because of the familiarity with the ambiance, easy access, variety of goods, early opening and late closing and shop owners’ relationship with loyal customers.

TRAI's new Do Not Call law

From next month TRAI will be making the mobile operators responsible for allowing unwanted calls and text messages that have been drowning mobile-phone users. TRAI will also levy heavy fines on telecom companies that allow calls to be made to people on Do Not Call list.

The biggest change to current law will hold carriers responsible when telemarketers contact people on the Do Not Call registry. Under the new law carriers will face a fine of $2,200 for the first offense; $11,000 for the second offense; and $22,000 for each subsequent offense. The new rules were announced Dec. 1, yet enforcement has been delayed while officials and the industry worked out a key provision that lets subscribers know when a call or text message is from a telemarketer.

Under the provision, telemarketers' phone numbers must start by the numbers "140" on caller-ID screens and commercial text messages must have standard headers that will identify them.

Backlog of consumer cases rises

There are three and a half lakh cases pending to be resolved in various consumer courts in the country at the end of April this year. Uttar Pradesh (UP) followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan had the highest number of cases pending in their respective states.

The backlog of cases has been rising by about two percent every year since 2005 even as the number of consumer applications filed for redressal has grown from 23.5 lakh until December 2005 to 35 lakh until April 2011, representing a near 50 percent increase.

The growth in consumer complaints shows growing consumer awareness about their rights as much as it raises doubts over the efficacy of India being billed as the prime destination for global consumer brands.

A ZRG study of the official data at the Consumer Affairs Ministry shows that UP topped the list of pending cases with about one lakh consumer complaints pending to be heard.

Best and worst states in respect of pending cases in consumer courts are:

Five Best States in 2011

Lakshadweep – 7
Sikkim – 16
Daman & Diu – 23
Andaman & Nicobar Island – 33
Arunachal Pradesh – 40

Five Worst States in 2011

Uttar Pradesh - 110774
Maharashtra – 35338
Rajasthan – 27557
Haryana – 27425
Gujarat – 23341

SBI employee dupes customers

A complaint was lodged by SBI and at least 127 customers against a SBI employee in Bhavnagar district's Talaja branch on Sunday with cheating, forgery, breach of trust .

The complaints said Mahedrasinh R Sarvaiya employed with SBI, duped them of 97 lakh for past many years. He would collect life savings from them but never deposited in their bank accounts.

The amount will probably go up as more people will come forward.

Moral of the story is never trust anyone with your money. Manage your money yourself, don't be dependent on anyone and everyone to do the daily chores of your bank.

Petrol price raised, but more to come

Petrol prices were hiked as already posted on Consumer World on 26th April. But it wasn't just another raise of 2-3 RS instead it was a whopping 5 Rs/l, the steepest ever hike. The oil companies are looking too increase the price even more!!

Petrol prices should have been raised by about 10 rupees a litre but we have increased them only by 5 rupees in public interest, said R.K. Singh, head of BPCL

This is the seventh time in 11 months that petrol prices have gone up and are set to upset household budgets, already reeling under the burden of higher food costs and loan installments.

And as if this was not enough, you may have to deal with Rs 4 hike in the price of diesel and cooking gas cylinders could cost Rs 25-50 more. The ministerial panel on fuels is expected to take a call on raising these prices next week.

RBI rule for failed ATM transactions

Today most of us have atleast one bank account and an ATM card with it. ATM (Automated Teller Machines) has made our life a lot easier than it was before. Now there’s no need to stand in long queues, at your bank to withdraw cash, as it can be done easily with ATM machine.

Just visit any ATM machine in your vicinity pop in your card and withdraw required cash. But occasionally it does happen that you receive no cash from the machine, yet the amount is debited from your account.

In that case banks are required to reimburse to the customers, the amount wrongfully debited on account of failed ATM transactions within a maximum period of 12 days, from the date of receipt of customer complaint. Otherwise, the bank is liable to pay a penalty.

For any failure to re-credit the customer’s account within 12 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint, the bank shall pay compensation of Rs.100/- per day, to the aggrieved customer.

Hundreds of such cases happen daily, but very few people are aware about this RBI rule and most banks happily ignore it. Next time if you face this situation, don’t let the bank get away without paying it dues.

Users data lost after fire, Govt gets tough

The central security agencies have taken serious note of nearly 1.2 crore SIM cards belonging to Idea Cellular being lost in a fire, terming it as a "security lapse", and worked out fresh guidelines for telecom operators for maintaining records.

In a report, the central security agencies said inquires into the fire incident at Jyoti Warehouse in Ahmedabad, where nearly two crore Consumer Application Forms (CAFs) of Idea Cellular were stored.

The warehouse had CAFs from 1996 onwards when it caught fire in February this year, but only 80 lakh forms had been scanned.

"The incident not only highlights the fact that important data has been completely lost, but also underscores the slow rate at which the digitisation of subscriber data was being carried out," the report said.

Telecom service providers have now been asked to ensure quick and time bound scanning of all CAFs, proper duplication of records with a mirror image in the archives, the stores where the CAF have been kept should have fire proof arrangements and secure from other hazards.

Petrol prices to be hiked again

Its about to happen again, oil firms are about to raise prices of petrol , possibly after May 10 when the state polls end.

Their could be an increase of about 3 Rs on petrol, which could be announced on 15th of May. The hint of an imminent price revision came from Ranbir Singh Butola, chairman of Indian Oil Corporation, which controls 55% of the market. "We would do it (increase rate) at the earliest possible," he said.

Government always raises the petrol price when it goes up in international market, but when falls , They do not reduce the price accordingly. Common man is already facing brunt inflation and this will only add to their woes.

Bank with fastest complaint resolution

Nowadays almost every one has a bank account and, most of us use their services on a daily basis. At times their are issues and problems for which you need to contact the bank for a solution. But have you ever thought how customer friendly is your bank?

Does it treat you royally or does it give you a royal ignore? You would get a fair idea when you approach it for availing a product or service, but a bigger yardstick is how it treats you, when you confront it with your grievances.

A new report by Outlook Money takes a look at the preception of customers. Of all the banks only 15 were shortlisted for the study.

Of the shortlisted banks, two were from the private sector (Axis Bank and HDFC Bank) while the rest were from the public sector (Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Indian Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, UCO Bank and Union Bank of India).

All the banks have layed down a detailed complaint resolution system. However, having a system in place is one thing and ensuring that the system is effective is another.

Central Bank of India emerged at the top in terms of speedy complaint resolution followed closely by HDFC Bank. Corporation Bank and Axis Bank were placed third and fourth. You can read the complete report here.

Things needed to file a complaint

Whenever you buy any product, make sure that you collect a proper receipt with all details duly filled in. Also collect the warranty card and get it stamped by the dealer.

If there's a problem with the product, complain and note down the name of the person you spoke to and the time at which you did that. If there is no response, file a written complaint and take an acknowledgement for it.

In short, keep a record of every transaction, every complaint. If at any time, you need to lodge a complaint about the product before the consumer court, these will come in handy.

These will help, to make sure that you have a strong case to back your allegations when you file a complaint. Or else, you may well lose your case.

In the absence of proof of purchase, it is difficult to lodge a complaint before the consumer court.

Better service to bank customers

Bank customers may soon expect better services and fast-track redressal of their grievances as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to consider a fresh set of rules to improve the banks' customer service practices.

Almost a year after RBI put in motion a process to improve bank's customer service practices, a high-profile panel set up by the central bank in this regard is likely to submit its recommendations later this month.

The proposed recommendations may include penalties on banks for lapses on both implementation and maintenance of model customer service standards, they said.

The panel is also said to be in favour of giving more teeth to the Banking Ombudsman through necessary legal measures. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was established by RBI in 1995 to provide speedy solutions to the grievances faced by bank customers.

Besides, the RBI might also be asked to consider putting more responsibility on the banks' key executives in terms of adopting better customer service standards and putting in place necessary checks against any lapses.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of customer complaints at various banks.

The Banking Ombudsman received as many as 79,266 complaints in the year 2009-10, the latest period for which data is available. This marked an increase of about 15% from 69,117 complaints received in 2008-09.

There are 15 offices of Banking Ombudsman spread across the country and RBI had initiated this step to provide an expeditious forum to bank customers for resolution of their complaints relating to deficiency in banking services.

A database of cellphone bill defaulters

Customers who default on their payment to cellphone companies will find it increasingly difficult to cheat other companies in the near future.

The Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (Cibil) is in talks with leading telecom companies to create a database of cellphone customers in the country on lines similar to that of a financial institution.

This will mean that every default on cellphone bills and the credit history of a customer would be available for mobile operators at the click of a mouse. Cibil is carrying out a pilot run in Mumbai in association with one of the main service providers.

Tata Docomo offers free incoming

Tata Docomo launched a an exclusive ‘Roam Free’ offer for its post payed customers. Under the offer, customers can enjoy incoming roaming absolutely free anywhere across the country on Tata Docomo network.

By availing the unique offer customers don’t have to worry about incoming roaming charges, while outgoing roaming will be charged at 1paise per second. What more! All this comes at absolutely no extra cost to Docomo customers.

Salient features of the plan are:

• It introduces roam free plans only on PostPay.
• Plans Offer free incoming across the country on Tata Docomo’s national network.
• Outgoing calls are also billed per second while roaming.

Existing customers can avail the offer, by just sending SMS to 121 to start using this benefit on the new Roam Free plans with greater than 299 rental.

RBI mail address hijacked by phishers

In what is being described as an online shock for the Reserve Bank of India, cyber fraudsters masquerading as officials of the country's apex bank have started sending fraud emails to unsuspecting citizens seeking their banking details.

The fraud came to light after several people reported having received a mail from the address update@rbi.org.in with the subject 'Important notice to all bank customers in India'. "Dear Account Holder, the Reserve Bank of India has introduced a new security update against online phishing in India. Download the attachment, select the bank you operate and update your account against online

RBI has issued an advisory warning against responding to any such mails. Those who have revealed their account numbers in response to the mail should immediately alert their respective bank.

Delhi filed highest number of consumer complaints

If one goes by the number of cases filed in consumer courts in Bihar and West Bengal, these two states are at the bottom of the chart when it comes to consumer rights in the country.

According to data compiled by National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, till December 2010, these states were way behind other states with similar size and population in the number of consumer cases filed.

Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh rank high in consumer awareness.

On the other hand, the commission said UP, Maharashtra, Haryana, Orissa, Punjab, Gujarat and Bihar account for almost 80 per cent of the total pendency of old cases. “

The seven sister states in the north-east have a very low registration of consumer cases. The lowest among them is Sikkim, with only 297 cases filed since the consumer courts were set up.

Among the Union territories, Delhi has the highest number of consumer complaints, followed by Chandigarh. This is the reason that Chandigarh has two district Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums.

Despite its tiny size, Chandigarh has received 42,245 cases in its district forums since inception, and 11,091 cases in its Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The disposal rate of complaints is above 90 per cent in both Delhi and Chandigarh.

Nokia the top manufacturer in India

Mobile ad network, InMobi, has revealed that the Indian mobile ad market grew by 1.5 billion ad impressions (27 per cent) between October 2010 and January 2011.

The finding is part of InMobi’s January 2011 Mobile Insights Report - India Market.

With 59 per cent market share, Nokia continues to be the top manufacturer in India, followed by Samsung with 24 per cent impression share. These two competitors account for 83 per cent of total impressions served in the Indian mobile market--and are followed by Sony Ericsson, LG and Micromax.

Bank to compensate in online fraud

Taking cognisance of misuse of technology in committing fraud, Punjab National Bank has been directed by the Banking Ombudsman to refund over Rs.7 lakh with interest to a victim.

In its recent directive, the Banking Ombudsman has asked the nationalised bank to put in place strict measures to check such illegal activities.

The curious case of phishing involves a senior manager with Dabur India Ltd, Sahibabad, who lost about Rs 8 lakh in the fraud. Read the rest of the post here.

Idea, BSNL have the highest call drop complaints

Despite massive campaigns promising respite from call drops and superior network, telecom service provider Idea Cellular is one among the few operators who are facing the problem of frequent call drops.

According to the parameters laid down the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), a telecom network is considered as "worst affected cells" if more than 3 per cent of phone calls are not complete.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Etisalat are other two companies which fall in this category. From my personal experience I can say that calling from BSNL is a nightmare, as there are frequent dropped calls. Mobile number portability can rescue many people from these cell phone operators who don't want to change their number.

Gujarat unhappy with telecom service providers

It seems mobile phone users in Gujarat are not happy with their service providers. At least the data provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) suggests that.

A release by the regulator says that as huge as 3,64,849 subscribers changed their service providers in just 40 days.

The TRAI release says the number of requests received from Gujarat is the highest among all 22 telecom circles in India.

The ‘Mobile Number Portability’ (MNP) service was made available in the country from January 20, 2011. And of more than 4.35 crore mobile connections in the state, 3,64,849 wanted portability.

Till late 2009, there were only six operators in Gujarat, but now the choice is wide, making people switch to operators that give comparatively better services.

Idea Cellular had the highest ‘port in’ requests at 28,803 during the period. As per industry sources, Reliance and BSNL have lost the maximum number of connections in the state during the period. While Reliance (both GSM and CDMA) lost 40,000 customers, BSNL lost 25,132 customers.

Britsh woman files complain after being duped

A British national has moved the Bombay High Court alleging fraud by a Colaba family. Pamela Bromley, 66, has alleged that the family of Anju Thakur duped her of Rs. 2 crore under the pretext of helping her buy property in Mumbai. Bromley has moved court against six members of the family.

Bromley met Colaba-resident Anju Thakur in 1995 during a Yoga camp in Gujarat. As per Bromley’s petition, she would often stay at the Thakur house during her visits to India.

Bromley’s petition states that between 2000 and 2004 she transferred money for the purchase of a flat in the same building, and other items such as paintings, crystal Buddha and crystal artifacts. The funds from England banks were transferred to the accounts of Anju, her brother Arvind and sister Manu.

IDBI bank fined for issuing a unwanted card

The Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on Tuesday held IDBI Bank Ltd. guilty of deficiency in service for issuing an 'ATM-cum-debit card' instead of an exclusive ATM card to its customer and charging him for it.

The forum directed the bank to pay Rs 25,000 to the complainant, Juhu resident Krishna Pandey, as compensation and costs of proceedings.

This is surely a good news for customers who are charged for unwanted services by various companies and multinationals. The most notorious in this regard are the mobile operators. Next time you are charged for a service you haven't subscribed for, cancel and ask for refund. Read the complete story on Times of India

SMS alerts on electricity bill

In a move to keep electricity consumers posted about their monthly bills and due date of payment, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) will start sending SMS alerts soon.

A spokesperson of the government owned DHBVN said that contract for this has already been given to a private firm.

The spokesperson said that each SMS will include the information about bill amount and due date of payment. This will be in addition to delivering a hard copy of the bill to consumers.

Consumers would get three SMSs; first to intimate them about the bill amount, second to remind them 48 hours before the due date for payment and the third SMS will be sent after receiving the payment.

In addition to this, DHBVN will provide email bills to those consumers who have registered themselves for the online facility. DHBVN has already provided a facility to its all consumers to lodge billing and metering related complaints on its website www.dhbvn.com.

This surely is a good move and will benefit the consumer, and it should be implemented all across the country as soon as possible.

Fiat dealer to make a refund for defective car

The Mohali District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered the refund of total price of a Fiat Palio car, which was found to be defective. Besides over Rs 4.31 lakh, which included insurance premium as well, a Chandigarh-based Army man will also get Rs 5,000 as litigation cost.

Allowing the complaint filed under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the Forum full bench, headed by its president BS Mehandiratta and comprising two members Dr SS Dhaliwal and HK Ghuman, Wednesday directed the Director, Hind Motors (India) Limited, Mohali, and Director, Fiat India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, to refund to the complainant Rs 4,26,299 sale price of the car besides refunding Rs 4,817 on account of insurance premium and other charges collected from the complainant at the time of selling the car, with 9 per cent interest per annum interest.

The court asked to comply with the order within one month, failing which the opposite parties shall be liable to pay interest on the sale price at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of the order till the date of actual payment, ordered the Forum. To read the full report visit IndianExpress.

US to launch official database of consumer complaints

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is preparing to launch a Web site consisting of complaints filed with the commission by consumers. The new site, www.saferproducts.gov, is scheduled to launch March 11.

Critics have noted that various sites have been doing that very thing for more than a decade, and that online consumer complaint of products and services are now so commonplace.

US Congress voted overwhelmingly in August 2008 to beef up the CPSC, giving it a bigger budget and more authority to take action against unsafe products.

But that doesn't mean that industry groups aren't keeping up their campaign against the public release of consumer complaints.

"We're not opposed to a database," Rosario Palmieri, vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), told The Washington Post. "We're opposed to a database that's full of inaccurate information."

But consumer advocates say making public information public is only logical. "This is all about transparency," said Ami Gadhia, policy counsel with Consumers Union. "Commission staffers have worked very hard to ensure that the database is fair to everyone."

Consumers who files a complaint must provide his identity but the information will not be published and will be available to manufacturers only if the consumer agrees.

The agency will publish only complaints concerning safety – not complaints about reliability, price or quality. India too need a official complaint database on the same line.