(1.) The present revisionist, Prabhakant Shukla, is an Advocate from Kanpur, who had filed a Consumer Complaint before the District Forum alleging that fake and incorrect demands were raised by the Opposite Party in the telephone bills regarding internet charges. The Revisionist had taken a Mobile Telephone Connection from the Opposite Party No. 1 Reliance Communications Ltd. (previously known as M/s. Reliance Infocomm Services) bearing Telephone No. 3330994 way back in September 2003. This connection which was extended to the Revisionist on 5/9/2003 was without any request for or option of internet facility. The Revisionist kept on making payments when to his surprise in the bills that were raised on 2/1/2004, internet charges were included therein without there being any such agreement or any facility of internet being either requested or provided to the Revisionist. It is alleged by the Complainant / Revisionist that the same was resisted but unfortunately, the connection was deactivated, followed by disconnection and finally termination of the services on 3/10/2004.
(2.) The Revisionist then instituted a Consumer Complaint No. 229 / 2005 before the District Forum on 10/1/2005, which after contest was allowed by the District Forum on 29/3/2011.
(3.) An Order was passed in the case of 'M. Krishnan vs. Telegraph Services' in a dispute decided by the District Forum Kozhikode, Kerala where the Complaint filed by a Consumer in respect of such similar fake bills came to be allowed. Against this a jurisdictional issue was raised in terms of Sec. 7-B of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 (hereinafter referred to as the 1885 Act) before the Kerala High Court, contending that such a dispute was not maintainable before the Consumer Forum, as in respect of the disputed bills a statutory arbitration has been provided for. The said Writ Petition came to be dismissed by a learned single Judge upholding the Order passed by the District Forum and the Letter Patents Appeal (LPA) also met the same fate upon a reference before the Full Bench of the Kerala High Court.