Mobile phone: Damages sought for blocked service

Consumer court issues notice for blocking services to three golden numbers.

LAHORE: A consumer court on Monday issued a notice to a cell phone company for January 26 in a petition seeking payment of Rs20.99 million in damages for blocking of services on three golden numbers.

The petitioner, Ameer Ehsan Ullah Khan, submitted that all services on the numbers (0331-3333333/ 0336-3333333/ 0334-3333333) were blocked 25 days after activation. He said he had bought the numbers a month ago for Rs250,000 each.

He said when he called the company’s customer helpline to inquire about the issue he was told to lodge a complaint in person.

He said he had had several meetings with general manager (Administration) Zahid Qureshi in which he was assured that his complaint would be addressed but there had been no progress.

The petitioner said he had served legal notices, required under Section 28 of the Punjab Consumer Protection Act of 2005, to the company. These, too, went unheeded, he added.

On purchase, he said, he had got a confirmation from the sales staff at the Lahore office that the numbers were being activated in his name.

He said that the company violated Section 7 of The Telecom Consumer Protection Regulation of 2009. He requested the court to direct the company to restore all services on the numbers and pay Rs20.99 million as compensation and damages for causing him inconvenience.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2011.