JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J

1. This civil appeal¹[Civil Appeal No 923 of 2017] arises from a judgment and order dated 26 May 2016 of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission²[“NCDRC”] which was rendered in the exercise of its revisional jurisdiction. The issue is whether Section 7B of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 ousts the jurisdiction of the consumer forum in deciding a dispute between a telecom company and a consumer.

2. On 25 May 2014, the respondent instituted a consumer complaint before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum³[“District Forum”], Ahmedabad alleging a deficiency of service on the part of the appellant. The complaint states that the respondent had a post-paid mobile connection and was paying an amount of Rs 249 as the monthly basic rent. The appellant was providing mobile telecom services to the complainant on the basis of which it was asserted that there exists a relationship of consumer and service provider. The complainant subscribed to an ‘auto pay’ system through a credit card issued by his bankers in terms of which, the appellant would receive the payment before the due date to facilitate the timely payment of bills. According to