Lengthy, computer-generated supermarket bills are really a pain to read. But don’t let that discourage you from scrutinising them because there could well be mistakes in billing ‘ errors that could work to your disadvantage.
How far will a company go to keep a customer? These days they seem to be going more than that extra mile ‘ they are going so far as to deny customers the liberty of opting out.
Since it is that time of the year when students apply for admission to various colleges, it is only appropriate to write about an order of the apex consumer court that gives students who are unfairly denied admissions by educational institutions, the right to fight back and get justice. The influence of money power and political power in admission to educational institutions is well known. When an institute or a college gives in to such influences and admits students who may not otherwise make it to the merit list, thereby denying seats to those who deserved them, the victims can well knock on the doors of the consumer courts.
It was a curious case of lightning striking twice and a reprieve the third time around as far as Sujata Sengupta was concerned. Two different insurance companies, A and B, rejected her application on medical grounds while a third insurer, C, within days of the second rejection, gave her the all-clear and sold her a life insurance cover for Rs 35 lakh.
When an agent appointed by the government to mobilise deposits for various saving instruments misappropriates the money collected from consumers, the government has to take responsibility for the actions of the agent and ensure that consumers do not suffer. This was the clear message sent out by the highest consumer court in the country last year in the case of Union of India vs Arun Borse. Obviously, the message has not percolated down to state governments because in a more or less similar case, the affected consumers had to wage a long legal battle to get their money back.
If you plan to buy a mobile handset, make sure that it has a valid International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. Otherwise, you’ll face the same predicament that Tarun Kanti Ghosh, a Calcutta-based stock broker, is facing. A few weeks ago, he received an SMS from his mobile service provider, saying that services would soon be discontinued as his handset had an “invalid IMEI number”. Ghosh ignored it thinking that it was a general message but he soon got an automated call warning him of the same thing. He made inquiries and realised that his operator was serious. A government directive had asked operators to stop service to mobile handsets with an invalid or no IMEI number.
In one of the first cases on theft of valuables kept in a bank locker, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dismissed the contention of the bank that it was not liable to compensate the consumer for the loss of jewellery kept in the locker and awarded Rs 1,26,017 along with 18 per cent interest (Punjab National Bank, Bombay vs K.V. Shetty, FA No. 7 of 1991).
One of the reasons Saon Ganguly opted for a Maruti Esteem a couple of years ago was the warranty coverage. It gave her three free services in the first year, which ensured that the car would be checked by experts and worn-out parts replaced with genuine Maruti spares. It also gave her two years’ warranty and the option of going for an extended warranty later by paying a little extra. What Ganguly failed to find out was which parts were covered by the warranty and which were not ‘ and that turned out to be a costly mistake.
With the disappearance of small coins, it is now more or less a convention that in all transactions, fractions of a rupee below 50 paise are to be ignored. However, credit card companies persist in sending bills with small fractions of a rupee and credit card holders who have followed the general convention and ignored the small fraction while paying the bill have had to pay a heavy price.
What do you call people who secure themselves to a solid structure with an elastic cord and throw themselves off a cliff? No, not crazy ‘ they’re bungee jumpers. This extreme adventure sport has its fans all over the world. As clubs offering all sorts of adventure sports ‘ river rafting, rappelling, kayaking ‘ mushroom in India, bungee jumping too has grown in popularity. But the recent death of a Chennai-based engineer while bungee jumping in Bangalore has proven that we should be very careful about which adventure club we take our custom to.
