M.THANIKACHALAM, J. - (1.) The opposite parties are the appellants.
(2.) The respondent / complainant in order to provide self-employment to his son, who is unemployed, obtained DSL connectivity under the Power Plan I-64 kbps bandwidth, by depositing a sum of Rs.49,500/-, on a monthly fee of Rs.9995/-, which was installed on 13.12.2000. From the very next day of the installation, the Internet connection was disconnected, informed to the Engineer of the opposite parties, though it is said rectified, it was not functioning properly, thereby causing business loss in hours. Even after several requests, the Field Engineer of the opposite party did not turn up to rectify the reported defects, except on three days and because of the same, all the computers were shut down state and the income speed of the internet was slow, below 64 kbps, which was not sufficient for browsing as the complainant opted for an advised power plan 128 kbps on 1.8.2001. Though the opposite party assured uninterruption, speedy internet connection, failed the keep the same, thereby the complainant was compelled to go for BSNL, Chennai Telephones ISDN back up, at a cost of Rs.51,070/- to avoid the frequent disconnections and the slow speed. In view of the deficiency committed by the alone, the complainant was compelled to switch over and therefore, the opposite party is entitled to refund the amount collected by way of deposit, deducting access charges for the period from 1.1.2003 to 23.1.2003. Similarly the opposite party is also liable to pay Rs.94,410/- since the actual supply of internet delay was 64 kbps which costs only Rs.5245/-, in addition to, they are liable to refund the expenses of telephone calls incurred. Thus alleging deficiency, a consumer complaint was filed, seeking several reliefs as seen from prayer paragraphs number (a) to (i).
(3.) The first and second opposite parties resisted the case inter alia contending, that the free Dial-up account that can be used at all times when the DSL Service is down, for which, no amount was charged, that data pipe was capable of handling the load intended, whereas slowing down in the speed may be due to external factors such as disconnection due to cable cut, electricity, surge destroying the equipment, road accidents etc., that whenever a complaint was given regarding disconnection or slow speed, the same was attended by the Engineer of the opposite parties promptly, thereby not committing any negligence or deficiency, thereby praying for the dismissal of the complaint.;