Long considered the favourite hangouts of the elderly and the retired, consumer courts would witness them pacing up and down with their grievances. But that view is changing.

These days, young people make a beeline for these courts. Besides increased awareness and speedy disposal of cases, the telecom revolution has drawn these youth to consumer courts.

After the advent of mobile phones, complaints related to the telecom sector jumped from 88 in 2006 to 634 so far in 2009.

Majority of complainants in these cases are youngsters. An official at the consumer forum said more than 50 per cent of the telecom-related complaints are filed by youngsters.

These complaints range from overcharging, change in the SMS package without notice, defective mobile sets and non-functional games, among others.

“Initially, young advocates dragged telecom and mobile companies to consumer forums. Soon, senior citizens, who otherwise also constitute 90 per cent of our litigants, started trickling in. And gradually, youngsters started coming in with their mobile-related complaints,” Major General (retd) S P Kapoor, presiding member, UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, said. “Now, the scenario is such that telecom complaints are mostly filed by the youth.”

In one such case decided earlier this month, 23-year-old MBA student Sundeep Sandhu got a replacement for his faulty Meridian mobile set ‘Fly’ worth Rs 8,660, and Rs 550 as litigation costs.

“Awareness came basically through radio and newspaper advertisements. And I was determined to contest my case,” Sandeep said.

In another case, 21-year-old engineering student Suchi Gupta was awarded replacement of a defective Nokia handset.

... contd.