Mumbai: The Central Mumbai District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (DCDRC) has found Vodafone Idea (VI) guilty of providing faulty services to a customer and penalized the company for deficiency in service. The commission directed VI to pay Rs 50,000 for the deficiency caused and an additional Rs 10,000 for the mental agony suffered by the complainant.
The case stems from a 2019 incident when the complainant, T N Balasubramaniam, a resident of Ghatkoper, had purchased a Rs 5,999 international roaming plan via the My Vodafone app for a trip to Kenya.
The complainant, who traveled to Kenya in May 2019, had used about 75% of his data package within the first few days of his trip. However, after visiting Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and using only 124 MB of data, his service was abruptly stopped without prior intimation from VI.
After several failed attempts to contact customer support, the complainant received an SMS stating that his service was interrupted due to exceeding a usage limit of Rs 72,419. VI later raised a bill of Rs 86,290, including 18% GST on international roaming charges for the period from May 4 to June 3, 2019.
Despite the roaming package being valid for 28 days with 5 GB of data and free calls and SMS in Kenya, VI refused to restore the complainant's services upon his return to Kenya. Instead, the company demanded an immediate payment of Rs 60,000, which amounted to 80% of the outstanding balance. This demand came despite the roaming package still having data available.
In its defense, Vodafone Idea argued that the credit limit applied only to local and national usage and did not restrict international roaming. The company claimed that the dynamic credit limit is adjusted at its discretion as a customer service measure, allowing subscribers to exceed their limits while traveling abroad.
However, the DCDRC ruled that VI was deficient in its service for failing to inform the complainant in advance about the applicable roaming charges and allowing him to accrue charges up to Rs 72,419 without warning. The commission also condemned the abrupt disconnection of services and the refusal to restore them, even though Kenya was included in the package. This, the commission concluded, amounted to a deficiency in service.
