The District Consumer Redressal Forum today directed Bharti Airtel Limited, Cheema Chowk, Ludhiana, to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment to a customer.

They were also directed to pay Rs 1,000 as litigation costs.

The complainant, Sadhu Singh Dhillo, a Ludhiana resident, said he had taken a mobile connection from Bharti Airtel Limited, after submitting the proofs.

On the very next day, however, he received a message saying his services had been suspended for want of proof.

He immediately approached the shop from where he had obtained the SIM card and submitted another set of identity proof, after which, he was told that his number would be activated within a few hours.

Though his connection was restored, his problems, did not end and he again received a message informing him that his registration had failed.

The company’s representative said that when Airtel’s representatives visited the address provided by Dhillo, they found he did not live there.

They also found that he had filed the form in someone else’s name and had submitted someone else’s voter ID.

After this, they told him to file the correct form and submit the correct residence proof.

The forum, after hearing the arguments, directed Bharti Airtel Limited, to pay Rs 5,000 for causing mental agony and harassment to the customer on account of deficiency in services.