Thursday, December 14, 2006

Internet service provider to pay for lowering speed

New Delhi, Dec 11: A consumer forum has directed Internet service provider Sify limited to pay a compensation of Rs 7,000 including litigation cost to a customer for its failure to provide the minimum internet speed despite the promises.

"It appears to us that promising for providing a connection having minimum speed of 256 kbps... And then reducing it to 14 kbps, cannot be said providing proper service in any manner," the North West District consumer forum bench headed by President K S Khurana said.

"Moreover, concealing the hidden conditions and not redressing the grievances of the complainant who made complaints with regard to poor customer service on number of occasions, in our considered opinion, amounts to deficiency in service and indulging into unfair trade practice," it held in a recent order.

Ankur Raheja of Lawrence Road here, who subscribed to Sify for broadband service since July 16 to September 16, 2004 after paying Rs 600 per month, had made a complaint alleging the service provider failed to provide the minimum speed of 256 kbps as per the definition of broadband.

He found that after downloading 750 mb data, the broadband speed was lowered to 14 kbps.

To his utter surprise, Raheja also discovered that though the service provider had sold their packages as "unlimited" but it had some "hidden conditions".

"If a customer download more than 150 mb data in a day, H was penalized in the form of reduction of package by one day," he said alleging that such hidden conditions had not been brought to the notice at the time of entering into agreement.

Bureau Report

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