Smartphone users can now approach consumer forum for deficiency in service

The Supreme Court has held that an individual facing any deficiency in telecom services can approach consumer forums directly with his complaint against the company.

The top court passed the verdict on an appeal of Vodafone by which the company had challenged an order of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) by which it had affirmed the view of SCDRC that Section 7B of the Act of 1885 would not be applicable to a private service provider since it is not a ‘Telegraph Authority’.

Referring to a verdict from last year, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath said that the court had invoked the doctrine of election, which provides that when two remedies are available for the same relief, the party at whose disposal such remedies are available, can make the choice to elect either of the remedies as long as the ambit and scope of the two remedies are not essentially different.

The bench refused to accept the submission of Vodafone Idea cellular Ltd that the specific incorporation of telegraph services in the Act of 2019 is an indicator that it was only as a result of the new legislation that telecom services were brought within the jurisdiction of the consumer fora.

The top court further said that the specification of services in Section 2(s) of the former Consumer Protection Act was therefore not intended to be a comprehensive enumeration of the services which are encompassed within the definition.