HYDERABAD: Can’t track the consumer complaint you had made? Chances are that either the case is disposed of citing “failure”, on part of the complainant, to present evidence or set aside due to non-execution of the order.
To tackle the pendency of cases, the district consumer forums, as well as the State consumer forum, have been disposing of cases and that too at a brisk pace. Most of these cases, a cursory look at the judgments published online reveals, were filed in 2014 or earlier. But some complaints filed last year were also disposed of to clear the piled up files.
In most cases, it is the failure of a consumer in giving evidence to back the allegation of deficiency in service or malpractice by a company that has led to the concerned consumer forum to dispose of the case.
In one such case, V Sarawathi, a 57-year-old from Moti Nagar, filed a complaint against Max Bupa Health Insurance, demanding complete insurance coverage. The case was dismissed by the president of Hyderabad Consumer Forum 3, Nimma Narayana, after the complainant failed to provide evidence, even after a year from the time of filing the complaint. In the last two months, about a hundred cases have been dismissed by the 12 district forums and the State commission.
Non-compliance of judgment
Due to non-compliance of the judgments pronounced by the consumer forums, aggrieved consumers file executive appeal again with the forum to take appropriate action even though a forum issues actionable steps through the issuance of a non-bailable warrant (NBW). “Even NBWs are not executed by the police department, who are supposed to arrest the person against whom such warrant is issued. Due to its non-compliance, I am forced to close cases to get the attention of the Bar Council and the advocates,” said Vakkanti Narasimha Rao, president of Hyderabad Consumer Forum 2.