Month: December 2018

Can a Bank be held deficient in services if its ATM does not dispense Cash for the reason “Cash not available”?

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A consumer Court in Raipur has recently imposed a penalty of Rs.2500/- on SBI for exactly the same reason overruling 🎯the arguments of SBI that
1) the complainant was not its customer and
2) failure of internet connectivity is not within its ambit, rather it is upon the internet service provider against whom, any complaint if any, should lie.

The Forum countered SBI by saying that when Banks are charging for usage of ATMs for a whole year in advance and a client is Free to use any ATM he automatically becomes a customer.

The second point was countered with the reasoning that when the ATM itself was showing “No Cash Available” on 3 different dates and times how it can be a case of internet failure? Moreover, when customers are penalised for no balance or less than minimum balance in their accounts, how can a Bank get away with no cash in the ATM?

It being the first such judgement for ATM failure, it is expected to generate a lot of interest in the matter.

The incident happened in May 2017, complaint filed in June 2017 and the verdict was passed recently.
It’s a reminder to our banker friends here to be more careful in loading Cash in ATMs especially before consecutive holidays to escape such penalty as well as customer dissatisfaction.
As received.

Courtesy N Sankarapandian Natarajan in SBI Pensioners group💐🙏

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FHRAI warns of action against Oyo for large scale breach of contracts

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After issuing a notice to Online Travel Aggregators (OTAs) – MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), has warned of action against Oyo alleging large scale breach of contracts, jeopardising the safety of consumers and violation of laws.

In a letter dated December 10, 2018, FHRAI has pointed out to the company that it is endorsing illegal and unlicensed bed and breakfast apartments, flats in residential and commercial buildings, rooms in chawls and such other independent structures as hotels.

“Such positioning of hotels is tantamount to misleading the guests. When a guest books in a hotel they expect to stay in a hotel and not in an apartment or a residential premise. This not only harms the reputation of hotels in India, but also constitutes potential safety hazard for the guest,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, FHRAI and Hotel and president Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI).

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/fhrai-warns-of-action-against-oyo-for-large-scale-breach-of-contracts/articleshow/67026408.cms

Doctor Fails AIIMS Entrance, Sues Coaching Centre, Gets Rs 32K: What Students Need to Know!

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In what could be possibly construed as a warning to such institutes, a medical coaching centre was sued by a former student who claimed that it did not prep him well enough to crack the entrance test for AIIMS.

Various coaching centres continue to mushroom in different parts of the country. While many provide their students with exposure to good material and teaching staff, several others make lofty claims but fail to deliver.

In what could be possibly construed as a warning to such institutes, a medical coaching centre was sued by a former student who claimed that it did not prep him well enough to crack the entrance test for AIIMS.

In 2014, R Sankara Rao completed his Bachelor’s in Medicine and enrolled for medical coaching at the Bhatia Medical Institute in Chikkadpally, Hyderabad.
Photo Source

Before joining the course, Sankara was given an entire list of topics that would be covered. Additionally, he had enrolled at the centre on the assurance that renowned pathologist Dr Devesh Mishra would conduct classes.

However, for the entire duration that Sankara was at the centre, Dr Mishra never conducted any class. Furthermore, he alleged that the institute didn’t cover all the topics that were mentioned in the syllabus.

Sankara mentioned the above incidents in his petition to the District Consumer Forum. Additionally, he added that due to the centre’s negligent behaviour not only was he unable to clear the AIIMS entrance examination but also wasted his time and money. The coaching fees that Sankara had paid was approximately Rs 45,000.

The coaching center on their part refuted all the allegations and also said that more topics were covered than mentioned to Sankara.
Delhi- govt-scheme-coaching
Representational Image only.

On November 15, 2018, the District Consumer Forum ruled in favour of Sankara and held the institute responsible for keeping Rao ‘disgruntled and dissatisfied,’ and ordered it to return the fees of the student along with a compensation of Rs 32,000.

The order by the consumer forum read, “The opposite parties are only coaching institutes, and when they promise a certain standard, it should be observed carefully. That the complainant should obtain a seat in AIIMS is certainly not their responsibility, but the path towards the flat goal should not be hindered by not delivering.”

In 2013, Abhivyakti Verma, a student who was preparing for her HSC exams, took on the Oxford Tutors Academy, an Andheri-based tutoring centre, for failing to provide promised services. The consumer court ruled in her favour, and the centre was slapped with a fine of Rs 3.64 lakh.

If you are enrolled in a coaching center and feel that the center is not fulfilling its promises, do consider taking legal action against them.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

https://www.thebetterindia.com/166440/medical-entrance-exam-aiims-compensation-news-india/

Interview with O P Rawat – Outgoing Chief Election Commissioner

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OP Rawat: ‘Note ban had absolutely no impact on black money. During polls we seized a record amount’

OP Rawat said, “We manage all polls with 17 lakh EVMs. If you have simultaneous elections, we will need 34 lakh. And maintain the inventory for five years, without any use. So, instead of savings, there may be losses.”

cVIGIL, the mobile application launched in Bengaluru during the Karnataka elections, helped voters report any violations of code of conduct. Through the application, the photo or video (of any violation) taken by a voter could be sent directly to the inbox of the returning officer or the district election officer concerned, who could then immediately verify the complaint, take action and respond within 100 minutes. In Bengaluru, we got 800 complaints. This time, during elections in the five states, we received nearly 7,000 complaints, of which 4,000 were verified and action was taken. This has given voters a lot of confidence.

We have launched campaigns for voter awareness in several public places — malls, museums etc. We have sent our EVMs and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines across and asked people to come and vote and then count slips, so that they develop full confidence. Ninety-nine per cent of the parties support EVMs. When we asked political parties to come and check the EVMs, only two of them came and even they said that they had come only to learn about the machines. Then, we put up the EVM ‘Status Paper’ on our website, which has answers to all the doubts and questions. It also has inquiry reports about all incidents.

Some ask why is it that developed countries are not using EVMs? Some say it does not have Internet access and so it is obsolete. Yes, it is obsolete and that is why it cannot be tampered with. It cannot be connected to the Internet and so there is no chance of any hacking. The Indian EVM is unique.

We have to do a lot. Harvard University’s Electoral Integrity Project brought out a series on elections worldwide. The 2014 general elections were rated as having ‘moderate-integrity’ with a score of 59 out of 100. On nine out of the 11 parameters used for determining the integrity index, our score was 72 — ‘very high integrity’. On two counts, campaign finance and media issues, we scored very poorly — 34 and 37 respectively. We need to do a lot on those fronts.

When the election bonds were brought in through the Finance Bill of 2017, the EC raised its concerns with the Law Ministry. We said that it would result in more opacity in political funding and allow for loss-making companies to donate their money, because of the removal of the company law provision that allowed for only 7.5 per cent of the profit of the last three years to be donated. And, when you don’t know the source, anyone can give money. All the grey areas and concerns were flagged by the EC.

For the full interview – please visit – https://indianexpress.com/article/india/op-rawat-cec-note-ban-black-money-polls-assembly-elections-mizoram-5474369/