BENGALURU: Left with a blacked-out TV screen for 89 days after having paid subscription and installation fee for Airtel DTH , a Bengalurean approached a consumer court. After eight months of litigation, the forum has ordered the service provider to resume services free of cost apart from compensating the man for court expenses.BV Gurutej, 35, a resident of Raghuvanahalli, had been a satisfied customer of Airtel DTH since August 2009. But his troubles began when he decided to upgrade his connection to Internet TV On October 1 last year, he contacted Airtel for the conversion and received a swift response in the form a technician landing at his doorstep the next day and replacing his existing HD Set Top Box (STB) with a new STB compatible for Internet TV service. The technician demanded Gurutej make a full and final payment of Rs 1,500 for activation of the new device. He complied but didn’t receive the Internet TV service.Gurutej then contacted the technician, who came home and assured him the problem would be fixed but demanded Rs 250 towards installation and demo charges. The Bengalurean asked why he needed to pay as the device hadn’t been installed properly and no demo was given to his family. But the technician forced Gurutej to pay up and didn’t issue a receipt. Moreover, the technician who had previously taken the old STB, also took the new one, claiming it was a ‘defective piece’ and would be fixed within 24 hours. That was the last time Gurutej saw him.With numerous calls to Airtel customer care helplines falling on deaf ears, Gurutej finally approached the Bangalore IVth Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on January 11, 2018 with a complaint against Airtel DTH of Bharti Airtel Limited.While Gurutej fought the case himself, advocates for Airtel stated the complaint was frivolous and vexatious. They claimed that Bharti Airtel Ltd has no role in providing DTH services but it is Bharti Telemedia Ltd which is associated with such services and therefore, the complaint is not maintainable. Exchanging of STBs takes two days and the customer was not willing to compromise but demanded a written explanation, which the company couldn’t provide, they said.Moreover, as an adjustment towards the old STB, Airtel had given Rs 350 to the customer. There was no problem with the new installation and no money was received without receipt, the lawyers argued, adding the firm couldn’t take responsibility for the alleged mental agony suffered by the customer.In one of the quickest litigations, the consumer forum decided that Gurutej was a victim of faulty service despite having paid for it. The newly purchased Airtel STB was taken away by the firm’s technician after a false promise of fixing it with 24 hours, making it clear that the company had installed a faulty device even after collecting Rs 1,500 from Gurutej.In its verdict pronounced on September 5, 2018, the judges ruled that Airtel should resume and reinstall the connection with a new, fault-free and upgraded Internet TV STB at Gurutej’s residence without demanding any additional fee. They ordered the firm to pay Rs 1,000 to the customer towards litigation expenses.

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