Worth pulling Airtel in consumer court for STB refund?

thenvk

Adept
Aug 7, 2007
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Let me share my thoughts here.

1. Unless there is some good amount involved in the case, do not go to CC. You need to spend considerable amount of time just for documentation, Notice and first appearance.
Once you file a case, you need to attend the court regularly. At least 5-10 times. So you loose about 10 days of your time here.
2. You might loose as well as we do not usually read the underlined conditions. (*)
3. Even if you win, you end up with a useless set top box + may be 2-5k amount.

Do you really think is worth it?

I read an article sometime back that one of the guy won CC case against builder. even then builder did not fulfill what he is supposed to. Then they went again to court and I think after 10-15 yrs later, Builder got jailed.
 
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smnrock

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Apr 9, 2009
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I will gladly infringe upon this if it is a company which is airtel and not releasing my money :)
You will be penalized for this than, what you wanted to achieve, since call recording without other party approval is more serious offence than what airtel did... Also in my opinion your lawyer is right...without purchase receipt nothing you can do here!
 

paarkhi

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Mar 26, 2010
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@Spacescreamer , please let us know the update and if you have decided and yet to appeal in Consumer Court then IMHO don't show the call recording.
 
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Spacescreamer

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Jan 23, 2006
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I wrote a scathing mail to airtel's cc dept yesterday early morning. Mentioned what i have against them, and that i intend to pull em in C.Court to get refund with interest and will post the proceedings on social media sites and forums.
They changed their tone and asked for the CPE receipt no. After few more mins, another mail came in asking for a scanned copy for the CPE receipt. Now the latest reply today (after me asking twice about the current status) mentions they are 'working' on the issue to 'resolve' it.

I dont know if this is a tactic to stall things from my side, as @gmano once mentioned i can file a consumer case within 2 yrs of the problem. Now the STB was collected exactly 2 yrs from today, so that limit expires today. Secondly, i kinda hope IF the case has to be filed, the court will take into consideration the last workable communication on the issue than just the collection of STB. That way i can mention how airtel went from 'we owe nothing' to 'send in receipt no.+scanned copy+working on the issue'

@paarkhi ofc i would update the thread from time to time.
 
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swatkats

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If call recording is illegal, Then what about those cases where you complain to police that you received threat call from your XYZ relative and you record the conversation, Cops use it as proof.. They won't question legality then.
 

paarkhi

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Mar 26, 2010
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@swatkats, that may be in extreme cases like threat cases (which makes it criminal) and this is a Civil Case. Anyhow I just posted a law, don't know what happens when you submit a recording in court whether it goes in our favour or goes against us.
 

swatkats

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Have been lurking around this thread from 2 days, i can suggest the OP to come to an understanding with Airtel and take whatever amount you can get.
You have agreed to Airtel terms that they own the box while purchasing it, they can take it when you do not use it. Open and shut case.
 
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Spacescreamer

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^^
I am fine with the 'come to an understanding part' but airtel is behaving like the giant d@uche bag they are by trying to fudge the details. The whole 'no money owed since we now (possibly) dont charge anything' is absolute BS. That is irking me the most.
You have no money to erect those damn towers in africa, dont go there. Why resort to blatant cheating?

Seconly, i didnt technically signed any terms with airtel as i just got the thing bundled with the tv (cost included). But i guess as soon as the offer was bundled, so were the terms n conditions. Any which way, i returned the STB thereby fulfilling my end of the bargain, now its their turn.
 
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jsmithe

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Nov 5, 2007
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Call recording is illegal in india without informing the other party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#India

Warrantless phone tapping is illegal in India. The wikipedia entry does not refer to call recording except in a roundabout way where a device is attached to a phone line for recording which I presume is illegal without a warrant.

See this link http://copyright.lawmatters.in/2012/02/recording-telephonic-conversations.html which appears to say it's a gray area and a call recorded without informing the other party may not be illegal and may even be admissible in court under certain circumstances.
 
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avi

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Nov 23, 2010
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If call recording is illegal, Then what about those cases where you complain to police that you received threat call from your XYZ relative and you record the conversation, Cops use it as proof.. They won't question legality then.
dude it's illegal. don't go around giving people ideas lol :p yes, record the calls and post them on social media, but don't present them on court.

Do you really think is worth it?
Yes. It's about teaching a lesson. I was fighting for 150rs breadboard and wasn't okay till seller came to my terms. And I am pretty sure he will think hard before he tries to do similar thing with anyone.

@OP. Looks like you don't have strong case here as you don't have proof that it was given free for you. Anyways, consult an experienced lawyer and discuss.

OR

1. call their CC, record the call, post on social media
2. visit nearest airtel desk, make a video, post on social media
3. mail all the higher ups, from Bharti to whoever email you find