THE BYSTANDER

This is an imaginary disastrous situation with credit card. But there are things to be learnt:: SCENE 1. People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don't they? A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, 'Funny, I thought I locked the locker. Hmm, 'He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order. Everything looked okay - all cards were in place.. A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of Rs.7,00,000! He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions. Customer care personnel verified that there was no Mistake in the system and asked if his card had been stolen. ? 'No,' he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep - you guessed it - a switch had b...

In a landmark judgment the Supreme Court of India has directed Nizam’s Institute of Medical Science, Hyderabad to pay Rs one crore or INR 10 millions for carrying out wrong surgery on Mr. Prasant S Dhananka decades ago. Mr. Dhananka underwent an operation that turned him paralyzed for life at the age of 19. It is only his spirit of perseverance that he fought the compensation case for more than 15 years and finally got the order from the Supreme Course. Though earlier he was awarded compensation of Rs 15 lakh by National Consumer Court but he decided to proceed further claiming compensation amount Rs 7 crores. The Supreme Court fixed the amount of compensation of Rs 1 Crore, first time ever in the history of consumer compensation in India. In fact amount of compensation is reached, in case of medical negligence, considering the age, potentiality and value of lost opportunities in victim’s life. But the Supreme Court in year 2000 expressed its views while giving verdict in “Charan Sing...

While making up your mind to buy any consumer durables, better not to go for the product that has come to market lately. Even it is backed by renowned brand name or company of repute. In India, time and again it is observed many companies try off line products (the products which they do not manufacture), and subsequently abandon it, leaving their customers to meet their fate. So happened, when Philips started selling fridge decades ago. It was not a successful venture for them, so they stopped. Imagine the plight of those who bought their fridges being wooed by Philips brand name! With Indian consumer protection laws being elusive, the gullible consumers are treated like guinea pigs practically. My recent experience with kitchen chimney manufactured by Bajaj Electrical Products is equally bitter. From their web site it appears that they too have abandon their chimney venture. It was in the month of March I bought their kitchen chimney from one of the Kolkata’s most reliable show room...

This is my debut article in the interest of Indian consumers. Just my humble contribution; to enlighten them about the product or service of famous TATA SKY. Amir Khan, the brand ambassador or Mr. Ratan Tata, the person at the helm of all TATA affairs, would be ashamed of TATA SKY, once they know instead of making the life “JINA LALA”; it is turning the life “JINA HARAM” with TATA SKY at times. With much expectation I switch over to TATA SKY from local cable operator in the month of May this year. Within six months twice I they have replaced their set top box. They went out of order and it is under warranty for one year. Every time I called their customer care, they receive they call as if your are naïve. They take no less than half an hour, to guide you to switch off and on , take out their digi-card and put it back, whether you are young or old caring a fig for that! Surprisingly their call centre’s number is not toll free! You are put on hold for ten minutes and another twenty m...

After a long break I am back to blogging again. In between I had a short stint as a copy writer with some American agency. I fell short with my little knowledge in English to meet the demand of their language churning machines. Well said by one of my friend, they are out to make mass production of literature with that software, as Ford started assembly line of production of his cars, early in the last century. Anyway, I too am thinking to focus on different areas of discussion. Consumer movement is still in nascent stage in our country. Though the relevant laws are framed, many seminars, workshops are held with lots of drum beatings. Still we are there now where we were 20 years ago. Thanks to our system which puts snails ashamed! Getting judgments for your genuine grievances, the time factors saps all your energy. That offers the field day here to manufacturers, service providers, professionals’ et al to loot the gullible consumers. You know the medicine you buy should cost much les...