Take receipt for DTH connection

Recently, when I got my Direct-to-Home (DTH) connection, I was not given any receipt for the initial payment. I was even told that generally that is the practice. If that is so, without the bill, how are consumers to seek redress before the consumer court if things go wrong?

If that is the practice, then they had better change it because such a practice is not only unethical, but also against the regulations framed by the regulator — the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Besides, you, as a consumer have every right to demand a receipt for any payment made. Please tell the service provider that you will not pay unless he gives you a receipt.

Under the Direct-to-Home Broadcasting Services (Standards of Quality of Service and Redressal of Grievances) Regulation, 2007( further amended it in 2009), giving the bill is mandatory. It specifically says that "post-paid subscribers, if any, will be issued bills containing details such as charges for subscription package, value-added services, customer premises equipment, taxes, etc". In other words, the bills should also contain all the relevant details. So if the DTH provider is not issuing the bill, you can also complain to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

The DTH operator in my area gives very shoddy service and never attends to complaints. This affects our television viewing. How do we deal with him?

The Direct to Home Broadcasting Services (Standards of quality of service and redressal of grievances) Regulations, specify a time limit within which complaints should be attended to. For example, in respect of complaints pertaining to non-receipt of signals, at least 90 per cent of the complaints should be redressed and signals restored within 24 hours, the regulation says. Similarly it mandates that every DTH provider shall provide a warranty in respect of the equipment bought by the customer and during this warranty period, no charges be imposed by the service provider for any repairs or home visits for such rectification of faults in the equipment, the regulation says.

The regulation also provides for complaint redress: You can complain to the call centre number and escalate it to the nodal officer appointed by the service provider. You an also send a copy of your complaint to TRAI.

If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved, you can lodge a complaint before the consumer court. In Tata Sky Limited vs Kamla Lall (RP No 3044 of 2010, decided on January 14, 2011), the apex consumer court made it clear that DTH operators who provided deficient services will be held liable for their actions or inactions. In this case, the consumer court held the service provider guilty of providing deficient service — for not activating the connection even after collecting the money for it — and directed that the consumer be refunded the cost of the set top box, being Rs 3774, and also paid a compensation of Rs 15,000. While upholding this order of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission agreed with the opinion of the State consumer Disputes Redressal Commission that the compensation awarded by the District Forum was very modest.

Please quote this case in your letter to the service provider and tell him that if he does would also suggest that you form an association of DTH subscribers in your area-this will give you a better bargaining power with the service providers.

Can a bank change the rate of interest on a loan without prior intimation to the consumer?

No, it cannot do so. If the terms of the agreement signed with the consumer gives the bank such an advantage, then obviously, the agreement is one-sided and unfair to the weaker party (consumer) to the agreement. Consumer courts have held in many cases that a consumer cannot be bound by such unfair terms in a standard contract, particularly when the weaker party to the contract has no option but to sign on the dotted line.

I asked the shopkeeper for a woollen shawl and he promised that it was pure wool, but I now have doubts about the quality . Is there any way I can check it? Also, if it is found that it is not pure wool, can I get the shopkeeper to take it back ?

Unfortunately, it is not mandatory for garment manufacturers in our country to provide adequate label information such as the composition of the fabric. This gives unscrupulous retailers a scope to hoodwink consumers and sell winter garments made of synthetic fibres as pure new wool garments. In future, if you want to be sure of the quality, look for the wool mark symbol when you buy and make sure that you get a proper receipt.

Coming to your question, you can have the quality of the shawl checked in a laboratory . You can also do a simple, burn test at home. Take a small piece of the fibre and burn it — wool is slow to ignite, it shrinks away from the flame and burns slowly, leaving behind black hollow beads, which when crushed, give a black powder. But most important, when wool burns, you get the smell of burning hair. As for the second part of your question, yes, if the shawl is not of the quality (pure new wool) claimed by the retailer, you can return it for a full refund and even compensation.

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