April 2024

The Supreme Court observed that a consumer complaint filed by a company is maintainable. The court rejected the contention that the word ‘company’ is not covered within the definition of ‘person’ under Section 2(1)(m) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Court observed thus in an appeal under Section 67 of 2019 Act preferred by Kozyflex Mattresses Private Limited (KMPL) against the final order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) by which it rejected the consumer case against the SBI General Insurance Company Limited. The two-Judge Bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta noted that the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, has brought a body corporate within the definition of ‘person’, and said: “This by itself indicates that the legislature realized the incongruity in the unamended provision and has rectified the anomaly by including the word ‘company’ in the definition of ‘person’.Hence, the first preliminary objection raised by learned counsel for the respondent regarding ‘company’ not being covered by the definition of ‘person’ under Act of 1986 has no legs to stand and deserves to be rejected.” Advocate Krishna Kumar Singh represented the appellant while Advocate D. Vardhrajan represented the respondents. In this case, the appellant company (insured) prayed for the direction to the insurance company (insurer) to indemnify it for the loss caused by fire in the insured premises being the manufacturing unit of the insured. The insured was engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of coir foam mattresses, pillows, cushions, and other coir by-products. It obtained a ‘Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy (Material Damage)’ and by an endorsement, the sum insured for stock was further enhanced. It was claimed that a massive fire incident took place in the manufacturing unit of the insured and an immediate action by way of informing the police and fire service station was taken and fire tenders were sent to the spot. The insured submitted an insurance claim for a sum of Rs. 3.31 crores i.e. Rs. 40,11,152/- for building, Rs.1,08,47,435/- for plant and machinery and Rs.1,87,72,489/- for stock. The insured made a representation to the Grievance Redressal Manager against the repudiation of its claim and the same did not meet the desired result, upon which the insured filed a complaint before the National Commission. The complaint was dismissed as withdrawn with the liberty to file a fresh complaint and thereafter, the subject complaint was filed, alleging deficiency in service on the part of the insurer. The National Commission upheld the repudiation letter, rejecting the complaint and hence, the insured approached the Apex Court. The Supreme Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case noted, “The insured-appellant has taken a pertinent plea in the instant civil appeal that the copies of the surveyor’s report and the investigators’ report were not provided timely and thus, the insured-appellant did not get proper opportunity to rebut the same. This pertinent plea taken by the insured-appellant in the memo of appeal has not been specifically refuted and only a formal denial was offered in the counter-affidavit filed by the insurer-respondent.” The Court further said that the ends of justice require that the insured should have been provided proper opportunity to file its rebuttal/objections to the affidavit/reports submitted by the insurer before the National Commission and consequently, the complaint should be reconsidered on merits after providing such opportunity to the appellant. “… the appellant shall be permitted to file its rebuttal/rejoinder affidavit before the National Commission limited to the contents of the reports referred to supra. Thereafter, the matter shall be reheard and decided on merits afresh”, it directed. Accordingly, the Apex Court disposed of the appeal, set aside the impugned order, and remitted the matter to National Commission for considering and deciding the complaint afresh. Cause Title- M/s. Kozyflex Mattresses Private Limited v. SBI General Insurance Company Limited and Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 234) Appearance:Appellant: Advocate Krishna Kumar Singh, AOR Sravan Kumar Karanam, Advocates Tayade Pranali Gowardhan, Mamatha Ralla, Rudroji Rakesh Kumar, and Shaik Sohil Akthar.Respondents: Advocates D. Vardhrajan, Rajat Khattry, Shagun Ruhil, and AOR Abhay Kumar. Source: Verdictum

Mumbai: A district consumer court has asked Air India to pay Rs 85,000 compensation to a 33-year-old man who missed work because of a 24-hour delay in Bangkok-Mumbai flight in 2018. It was alleged that while the Air India fight was to depart Bangkok on a Sunday evening, and land in Mumbai on early Monday, but it took off from Thailand on late Monday evening. The Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Commission said that as the complainant, Mohit Nigam, pointed out to deficiency in service, he is entitled to get compensation for physical and mental agony and loss of work. Nigam produced before the commission information received through a Right To Information (RTI) query which showed that the delay was due to the airline’s negligence. The fight was to arrive from New Delhi to Bangkok and then depart to Mumbai. Nigam said that he arrived at the airport three hours before the scheduled departure of 8 pm, collected his boarding pass and waited at the boarding gate but the flight was delayed. He added that the passengers were informed that flight would depart at 3 am and so everyone boarded the plane and waited for departure. However, later, it was announced that flight has been cancelled. This confusion continued till 5 am after which the fliers were provided accommodation. The commission said that a delay of almost 24 hours in departure of flight seems to have been caused because the opponent (Air India) at New Delhi Airport did not follow the scheduled mandatory requirements, which should have been done before departure of the flight. “It was duty of the opponent to follow mandatory check-ups before departure of flight, in which they failed. The RTI document submitted by the complainant clearly establishes the mistake on the part of the opponent,” the commission added. “As the complainant has pointed out deficiency in service of the opponent, he is entitled to get compensation for physical and mental agony, loss of work but not fully what he has prayed i.e. refund of ticket at both ends. It will be proper to impose costs of litigation upon the opponent,” the Commission said adding that it cannot be overlooked that this has caused inconvenience and mental agony to the complainant, for which he is entitled to be compensated. No Refund on Flight Tickets After announcing the compensation, the commission dismissed Nigam’s claims for a refund of the flight tickets. The commission noted that Nigam had travelled hassle-free from Mumbai to Bangkok. “The complainant’s claim for refund of ticket is not justified… It is not the case that the complainant had to bear additional expenses to purchase another air-ticket,” the commission said. Source: Times Now News

Mumbai: The insurance regulatory has announced the creation of an ONDC-like electronic marketplace -Bima Sugam- which will serve as a digital public infrastructure The marketplace is expected to be owned by insurance companies. Besides providing a platform for products, companies and distributors, Bima Sugam will allot insurance account numbers to customers and enable them to port their policy from one company to another. Irdai chairman Debasish Panda had earlier said that Bima Sugam would be a UPI-like moment for the insurance industry. Other than buying and selling insurance, insurance companies would be able to plug into the platform through API (application programming interface) to even service claims. It is not aimed at putting online distributors out of business as they can also be part of the platform. “This marketplace serves as a one-stop solution for all insurance stakeholders, including customers, insurers, intermediaries, and agents, thereby promoting transparency, efficiency, and collaboration across the entire insurance value chain,” Irdai said in a statement. Industry experts said that Bima Sugam would resemble ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), which democratises e-commerce by allowing both small shops and e-commerce giants to sell on the same platform. Small businesses are supported by service providers for logistics and other requirements. Irdai board this week replaced 34 regulations with six and also approved the setting up of Galaxy Health and Allied Insurance company by the former promoter of Star Health. Galaxy Health is the sixth insurance registration to be granted by the regulator in around one year and takes the total number of standalone health insurers to seven. Earlier this year, the regulator had granted in-principle approval to Narayana Health to set up a health insurance business in India. Two old regulations about insurers’ minimum business duties in rural, social sector, and motor third-party areas, as required by the Insurance Act, 1938, are now combined. Changes are made to how these obligations are measured: for rural duties, it’s now measured by Gram Panchayat, social sector includes cardholders and scheme beneficiaries, and motor third-party obligations are measured by insurance renewal for certain vehicles. The new regulations cover rural, social sector, and motor third-party obligations, establish the Bima Sugam digital marketplace, streamline insurer registration, governance, and product offerings, regulate foreign reinsurers, and enhance actuarial and financial functions while prioritising policyholder protection. Mar 23,2024 Source: TOI

A customer won ₹5,000 compensation from a Hyderabad restaurant after the establishment did not provide him free drinking water and levied service charges. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-III in Hyderabad directed the restaurant which is located in Jubilee Hills to compensate the customer within 45 days. Recounting the experience at the ITLU restaurant in CBI colony, the customer said that he requested for “complimentary” regular water due to an allergy to plastic materials but the restaurant staff refused. Owing to this, the person purchased the restaurant’s own labelled 500-ml water bottle for ₹50 The customer also said that the restaurant levied service charges amounting to ₹31.50 and a 5% CGST and SGST on the bill which was ₹630, inflating it to 695. The Commission ordered the restaurant to refund the service charge along with the GST and compensate the customer with ₹1,000 within 45 days. This comes after the Telangana government’s MA&UD department mandated last year that all hotels, restaurants, and eateries under the GHMC’s jurisdiction have to provide purified water for free and bottled water at the MRP. Apr 10,2024 Source: Hindustan Times

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked a petitioner to give its representation to the Central government for ensuring that travel companies particularly “foreign-owned” online portals like MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo, and SkyScanner, keep personal data of consumers confidential while booking tickets. A Bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora while rejecting the Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay’s plea gave liberty to him to approach the Centre. “If a representation is filed, it should be decided by way of a reasoned order in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible,” the HC said. Upadhyay’s claimed that there are at least three travel companies–MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo, and SkyScanner–which operate in India but are partially or fully owned by foreign investors, including Chinese nationals. The petitioner said he was worried about the potential misuse of a citizen’s data, especially the Aadhaar number and passport details. All three companies have Chinese investors and their parent company is Trip.com, the petition stated. He further said that the apex court has held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and even the data protection. committee has suggested that government-issued identity cards were sensitive personal data and their processing should require stringent laws. Citing Section 3 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, Upadhyay said that the provision shall apply to the processing of digital data inside and outside the territory of India if goods or services are offered to the data principal within the territory of India. Therefore, it is the Centre’s duty to seek clarification from such travel companies, particularly the “foreign companies”, on data protection measures, he argued. Source: Economic Times

Although a private browsing mode known as “Incognito” in Googles’swidely used Chrome browser has been available for nearly a decade, a legal settlement involving the way it works has cast new attention on this commonly available setting. The settlement disclosed Monday in a federal court is primarily designed to ensure that users who use Incognito mode in Chrome get more privacy while surfing the internet than they had been previously. Although Google isn’t paying any money to consumers, the lawyers who filed the case in June 2020 believe the stricter safeguards will be worth $4.75 billion to $7.8 billion, based on the estimated value of the personal information protected by the settlement. Nearly every major browser now has a private browsing mode. Here’s a look at what they do and don’t do for surfers. What private browsing actually does When you turn on your browser’s private mode, think of it as a fresh start. So all of the advantages of browser personalization won’t be there: No suggestions based on your history, autocomplete will be largely unavailable and you will have to sign into your accounts. As soon as you close your incognito window, your internet browser wipes the browsing history and any cookies that have been created during that session, according to the Mozilla Foundation, meaning — locally to your device – your browser won’t remember where you’ve been or store any information you filled into any forms. This kind of experience does have its uses. For example, making sure searches on more sensitive topics, like health care, don’t show up in your browsing history (which may invite related ads to start showing up). Or perhaps you’d like added protection when surfing – or logging onto accounts – on public computers, like at the library or a hotel business center. What private browsing doesn’t do Remember that the point of a private browsing mode is not to cover the fact that you visited a website but to cover the fact that you visited that site from your device. Incognito modes generally do not prevent the websites you visit from seeing your location, via your IP address, or stop your internet service provider from logging your activities. As long as your IP address is visible, the Mozilla Foundation says your identity and activity remain fully exposed to search engines and third parties – think advertisers – regardless of what mode your browsing in. To illustrate this point, Google recently agreed to purge billions of records containing personal information collected from people using incognito mode to surf the internet as part of a settlement over a lawsuit accusing the search giant of illegal surveillance. It also has to be make more prominent privacy disclosures in its terms of service to let people know about its data collection efforts. Google will also be required to set up Incognito mode so users will be able to automatically block “cookies” that enable third parties to track them during the next five years if a federal judge approves the settlement after a court hearing scheduled July 30. And any files you may download or bookmarks you create during a private session are not wiped at the end of your session, meaning you are still susceptible to computer viruses, malware and keystroke loggers. Are there options for more private browsing? A virtual private network can run interference for your IP address, making it harder for sites to track you. But the use of VPNs also raises additional security questions, especially for users who go with a free or cheap VPN provider they haven’t carefully vetted. Some search engines like DuckDuckGo are more privacy focused and have pledged to never collect personal information or track people entering queries on its site. And certain browsers like Tor are designed to make it more difficult for third-party trackers and advertisers to track you. Even with all of these options, just remember that it’s unlikely that you’re truly anonymous online. Apr 03,2024 Source: Economic Times

The oil marketing companies on Monday announced a reduction in prices for 19 kg commercial cylenders and 5 kg FTL (Free Trade LPG) cylinders, effective from April 1, 2024. The price of a 19 kg commercial cylinder has been decreased by Rs 30.50, with the new price set at Rs 1764.50 in Delhi starting from April 1. Similarly, the price of the 5 kg FTL cylinder has been lowered by Rs 7.50, reported ANI, citing sources. Jet fuel or ATF price was also cut by a marginal 0.5 per cent. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was cut by Rs 502.91 per kilolitre or 0.49 per cent, to Rs 100,893.63 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Rates in Mumbai have been cut to Rs 94,466.41 per kl from Rs 94,809.22. Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes. This adjustment in prices contrasts with the previous announcement made on March 1, when oil marketing companies had increased the prices of commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders. Such fluctuations in pricing are typically influenced by shifts in fuel costs and market dynamics. On February 1, the prices of Indane gas cylinders varied across metro cities, with Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai each having distinct rates. However, with the advent of March 1, consumers witnessed a notable increase in the prices of Indane LPG gas cylinders across all metro cities. While the precise reasons behind the price decrease remain undisclosed, various factors, such as changes in international oil prices, shifts in taxation policies, and supply-demand dynamics, likely contribute to such adjustments. The consecutive revisions emphasise the volatile nature of the energy market and its implications for households and businesses reliant on commercial LPG cylinders. Apr 01,2024 Source: Economic Times

Starting April 1, the government has made it compulsory to connect the Central Government Health Scheme [CGS] beneficiary ID with the Ayushman Bharat Health Account ID. In a press release, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced, “Existing beneficiaries must link their CGHS beneficiary ID with the ABHA ID within 30 days. The linking of the CGHS beneficiary ID with the ABHA ID is aimed at creating digital health identification of CGHS beneficiaries and storing their digital health records. The integration of the IDs is expected to broaden the spectrum of hospital options available to patients as well. The Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) was started in 1954 with the objective of providing comprehensive health care to Central Government employees and pensioners and their dependent family members. Currently, more than 41 lakh beneficiaries in 75 cities are covered by this scheme. CGHS caters to the healthcare needs of eligible beneficiaries covering all four pillars of the democratic set-up in India, namely the Legislature, Judiciary, Executive and the media. CGHS is the model healthcare .. Ayushman Bharat, also known as Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PMJAY), was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23, 2018. This scheme offers coverage of up to Rs. 5 lakhs per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. To create national digital health ecosystem, the govt later launched Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission [ABDM] It aims to develop a platform enabling interoperability of health data within the health ecosystem to create longitudinal Electronic Health Record (EHR) of every citizen. ABHA is Unique Health Identifier as a random 14-digit number and may be issued digitally or in the form of a hardcopy. As on 24.01.2024, a total of 52,50,15,110 ABHA Numbers have been created. Apr 02,2024 Source: Economic Times