A consumer court in Karachi has directed two Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to jointly pay Rs50,000 in compensation to a plaintiff over deficient internet services, while also ordering them to deposit Rs5,000 as a fine into the Sindh government treasury.
The case was filed by Khaleeq Ahmed before Judicial Magistrate (South) Abdul Ahad Memon under the Sindh Consumer Protection Act, 2014. Ahmed alleged that despite paying his bills on time, he faced continuous disruption and disconnection of internet services. He said that he had complained multiple times and sent a legal notice to the providers, but the quality of service remained unsatisfactory.
The court noted that the defendants failed to contest the proceedings despite appearing through their counsel and gave them repeated opportunities to respond.
In its order, the court said that “the complainant remained deprived of the services for which he had been regularly paying consideration to the defendants”. It added that the defendants’ own reply acknowledged restoration of service only after a considerable period, establishing that the complainant “suffered inconvenience, frustration and mental agony” on account of deficient services.
The court ruled that the defendants’ failure to address repeated complaints amounted to “a violation of the consumer’s right to receive services of the quality and standard promised at the time of subscription”.
It further directed both ISPs to improve their service “in all aspects to ensure smooth, uninterrupted and quality provision of the internet”.
