Customer gets Rs. 60000 from mobile network operator after his number gets blocked

A customer in Tamil Nadu recently received a compensation of Rs. 60000 from a mobile network operator after his number got blocked. Check details.

Mobile network operator fined Rs. 60000 after blocking customer number after 90 days (Representative Image) (Pixabay)

What happens when you wake up one day and find that your mobile phone number has been blocked? A nightmare, right? Sadly, one customer from Tamil Nadu faced this after his mobile network operator blocked his number. Once he contacted the company, it was found that the mobile number was already allocated to another customer. The angry customer took the issue up with the consumer court and was eventually compensated for the damage with a mega sum of Rs. 60000.

The consumer disputes redressal commission in Tamil Nadu found the undisclosed mobile network operator guilty after the customers phone number was blocked and his cumber allocated to another customer without any reasoning or explanation. The commission directed the network operator to pay a compensation of Rs. 25000 to the customer for the deficiency in service. Additionally, the company was also directed to pay a sum of Rs. 30000 for loss of the customer's contacts as well as causing metal agony. Lastly, an additional sum of Rs. 5000 was asked to be paid to the customer for bearing all the legal expenses.

Customer gets Rs. 60000 after company blocks his number

In this case, the mobile network company violated the laws set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The law says that if a customer is unable toe make any call from the a certain mobile number for a period of 90 days, and the recharge value drops below Rs. 20, the company needs to give a grace period of 15 days once the 90-day period ends and warn the customer at the same time. Once the 15-day grace period ends, the number can be deactivated and allotted to some other customer.

However, in this case, the customer claimed that the mobile network company did not allot any grace period to the customer and blocked the number once 90 days was over. The customer said that he had lost all the contact data that was stored on SIM card, after which he took up the case with the consumer court.

While the company was at fault here, it is also recommended for customers to treat their secondary phone numbers with utmost caution. It is always a smarter option to recharge the number or make a call after a few days just to keep the hassles of number deactivation away. One should always have sufficient account balance as well. Additionally, to avoid losing contacts, it is better to store your contact details on your Google account.