Nov 23
When Arun Shourie as disinvestment minister was selling off Government assets, there was a lot of protest as to why the Government is selling off its assets. But the fact of the matter is, the Government is not the best person to run things such as hotels, airlines, mills, and other such manufacturing and service sectors. Overall, the PSU’s are in a bad state, and it is quite clear that the Government is not exactly very responsive to needs of customer care. For example, when MTNL was the only telecom in Delhi, service levels were real bad; it is only when other telecom companies came on board that service levels improved. Here is another example of a sector that the Government is into, and is doing a pretty bad job in taking care of passengers:
NEW DELHI: At least five Air India flights were delayed by several hours at the Indira Gandhi International airport here on Sunday due to technical problems, causing hardships to about a thousand passengers.
Earlier, peeved over the long delay, the passengers protested at the airport and demanded explanations from the authorities. However, no senior Air India official was present at the airport to pacify the agitating passengers.
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Nov 23
AIIMS is the premier medical institute of India, and although many private hospitals have great doctors and excellent facilities, AIIMS is still seen as the best medical institution of the country. But just as a measure of how even the great ones have to pay for their mistakes, the Delhi State Consumer Court has ordered it to pay Rs. 1 lakh as compensation to the heirs of a man who lost his voice during an operation six years ago. It was alleged that the doctors at AIIMS botched up and cut a major nerve that resulted in speech loss during surgery to remove a tumour.
NEW DELHI: Holding All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) guilty of ‘‘gross medical negligence’’, the State Consumer Commission has asked it to pay Rs 1-lakh compensation to legal heirs of a patient who lost his voice after undergoing an operation there.
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Nov 23
Not in India. Due to not much movement in the past towards revamping its laws to add more teeth (enabling punishment of manufacturers for making sub-standard items), Indian customers are frequently short-charged. So, for example, you read about manufacturers in the Western countries and Japan recalling products when there are safety issues or health issues, you will find it hard to find similar examples in India. If the intentions of the Government are any guide, such a situation will not last for much longer. The Government is planning steps to modify laws such that consumers get a higher degree of protection against sub-standard goods, including a critical measure called as ‘product liability clause’, making manufacturers liable to pay punitive damages (punitive damages are fines that are meant to punish, and typically of such a level that they hurt the manufacturer). Read the article:
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Nov 23
In a continuing chain of consumer redressal forums ordering payment of compensation where banks have used coercive means to distress loan defaulters, a Pune Consumer Redressal Forum ordered the payment of Rs. 1 lakh compensation to a lady whose car was seized by agents of ICICI Bank. The interesting part in this case is that the lady had given instructions to the bank to recover the loan installments from her savings account. However, her allegation is that the bank did not follow these instructions and got its recovery agents to seize her car. She had to go to court to get her car back, and it was returned in a damaged condition. The Pune Consumer Court ordered the Bank to pay Rs. 1 lakh compensation to her for the mental distress caused.
PUNE: A consumer disputes redressal forum here has ordered a private bank to pay a compensation of Rs one lakh to a woman whose car was seized by its recovery agents for an alleged default in repayment of Rs 4 lakh loan.
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