A district consumer commission last Friday while dismissing the complaint of a Parel couple against a tuition centre said the complainants cannot expect teachers to be available at their beck and call to answer queries at odd hours and that they had taken the dispute “too far”.
The couple Sunil and Bindu Sarda had approached the consumer forum and claimed a refund of Rs. 1.35 lakh they had paid the tuition centre for a crash course to prepare their son for his Class X boards. They also claimed Rs. 4.85 lakh in damages for mental torture as they had to make alternative arrangements to prepare their son.
They claimed in their complaint that the teachers sent for home tuition were inefficient, there was lack of coordination and that their son underscored in the prelims in spite of them telling the centre to focus more on certain subjects.
The tuition centre and two teachers against whom they had filed their complaint stated before the commission in written arguments that the complaint was filed to make illegal gains. They also told that the complainants had taken a crash course for their son and that they had even given a Rs. 15,000 discount as the couple's daughter had also been tutored by them. Further, they told the commission that the complainants called teachers as per their whims, always wanted extra attention and called beyond working hours at odd timings. Also, they pointed out that they had been hired only in November and could not be blamed for poor performance as only a month had passed. The opponents also said that they had provided 14 extra hours of coaching and that the complainants also filed a police complaint against them to harass them.
The commission said in its order that on a bare reading of the complaint and annexures it is seen that the father has made repeated reference to his status and position in society. Further, it noted that emails show mention calls were made at odd hours beyond the working hours such as 9.30 pm, 8.59 pm and 10.44 pm. The body said, “While this forum understands the anxiety of parents having their son in tenth board, we opine that the complainant cannot expect opposite parties to be available at odd hours to answer their queries at their beck and call, irrespective of his status in society.”
Also it said that lodging a police complaint and present complaint without any proof of their allegations show they have taken the dispute “too far”.
