The Bangalore Elevated Tollway Limited (BETL) faced a double blow as it was told to pay a compensation of Rs5,000 to a local advocate for denying him thoroughfare although he had a valid Rs45 ticket with him.
The advocate C Gnanamurthy had filed a complaint with the consumer court and won the case following which the BETL moved the state consumer redressal commission appealing against the lower court order.
But the commission upheld the lower court’s order and directed the company to pay up.
The 38-year-old advocate was driving on the Electronics City Expressway at 12.40 pm on July 11, 2010 to attend a family function. He had purchased a two-way ticket costing Rs45 which guaranteed validity for 24 hours.
While returning on the same route along with relatives at 12.01 pm the next day, he was not allowed to proceed further by tollgate staff although his ticket was valid for half-an-hour more. He was allowed to go ahead only after he purchased a fresh ticket.
“When repeated complaints to BETL did not yield any results, I approached the Bangalore district consumer court seeking respite,” said Gnanamurthy.
The court asked BETL to pay him Rs5,000 for collecting the toll.
Despite the order, BETL refused to pay the compensation within the stipulated time. Gnanamurthy filed an execution petition and got a notice issued to BETL asking it to comply with the orders.
BETL then appealed to the state consumer redressal commission which not only rejected the appeal on the grounds of inordinate delay of 163 days but also directed the company to pay the compensation.
Initially, Gnanamurthy did not mind paying for another ticket, but felt that it was his duty to show the company that it could not get away with injustice.
He approached the authorities for an explanation and then sent a legal notice with copies of the two tickets as proof and a demand of Rs1 lakh.
“I was busy and did not have time to argue, but later I decided to take up the issue legally as an example to everyone,” he said
“I demanded a compensation of Rs1 lakh from them for causing me mental harassment,” he said.
He approached the consumer court when he did not get any response for his notice.
BETL, in its explanation to the court, had argued that the fee had been revised from Rs45 to Rs50 as per the National Highway Authority of India on July 12 and the same had been advertised to inform commuters four days before the enforcement of the revised rates.
However, the ticket issued to Gnanamurthy for Rs45 has been endorsed with a validity of 24 hours.
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