Consumer protection rights necessitate fair compensation for unauthorized service failures and ensure accountability of service providers.

1. The instant appeal has been filed under S.17 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (hereinafter called as the Act) against order dated 17.3.2020 passed by District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Solan, whereby complaint No. 29/2019 filed by the complainants has been partly allowed as follows:
Consequently, the complaint is partly allowed with cost of Rs. 8,000 and the opposite parties are jointly and severally directed to pay a sum of Rs. 25,000 as compensation to the complainants for subjecting them to unnecessary physical harassment and mental agony and unnecessary expenditure. They are further directed to refund to the com - plainants the billed amount, if charged against the secondary child number i.e. 98162-57874. The aforesaid order shall be complied with by the opposite parties within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the copy of this order. A copy of this order be supplied to the parties as per rules and the file after needful be consigned to record - room.

2. It would be apposite to mention that hereinafter the parties will be referred, as have been arrayed before the District Forum.

3. Facts necessary for the disposal of the instant appeal may be noticed thus. On 2.5.2018, the complainants purchased pre - paid mobile connection from the opposite parties on payment of a sum of Rs. 509. The validity of this connection was 90 days. On 15.5.2016, this pre - paid plan was changed to Post Paid Family Infinity 799 Plan on primary mobile No. 88946-34589 and two secondary child numbers 88940-70804 & 98162-57874 by the opposite parties on request made by the complainants to the opposite party No. 2. Under this plan, the bill was to be raised only against the primary number. The grievance of the complainants is that despite regular and timely payment of the bills in respect of the primary number, the opposite parties frequently raised faulty, imaginary and enhanced bills against secondary / child number 98162-57874. The complainants were not bound to pay any bill with respect to this secondary child number. The opposite parties unauthorisedly disconnected voice and data service on this number for aggregate of 102 days between 17.5.2018 and 21.3.2019. The complainants frequently registered their complaints on the customer care number 102 of the opposite parties against the aforesaid unauthorised and unfair practice.

4. Complainants also sent emails to the opposite parties in this behalf. They also made complaint to the opposite party No. 2 by way of whatsapp message, which was responded to by its Manager, Ms. Nidhi, who categorically admitted the fault on the part of the opposite parties in issuing the wrong bills and also assured not to subject them to unnecessary inconvenience and harassment in future. But despite this assurance, they continued receiving unauthorised inflated and imaginary bills against the aforesaid child number. The other complaints lodged on the customer care number and through emails were also responded by the officials of the opposite parties with similar assurances but the grievances of the complainants remained unresolved. Upon this, the complainants served legal notice dated 29.9.2018 upon the opposite parties to redress their grievance but this notice was also not complied with by the opposite parties. Hence, the complaint before the Fora below.

5. Upon notice, the opposite parties appeared before the Fora below. However, the opposite parties failed to file their reply within statutory period, as provided in the Act and, as such, their right to file reply to the complaint was closed by the learned District Forum.

6. The Complai