Vodafone Idea Ltd. v. Harshada Bindu Dholepatil
In the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal
Cyber Appeal 7/2019
Before Justice R.K. Gautam, Member
Decided on September 25, 2024

Relevancy of the case: Liability of a telecom service provider for issuing a fake SIM leading to cyber fraud

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 43A, 46, 57)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The respondent found out that a new SIM was issued without her knowledge, and her connection was disconnected.
• Further, she received a notification that an NEFT transaction was carried out. This transaction was not done by her, and she lost ₹3 lakhs in total.
• The telecom service provider had sent her a verification message, which she ignored.
• Though her connection was disconnected, she continued to receive calls. Hence, she ignored the verification message

Prominent Arguments by the Counsels

• The appellant’s counsel submitted that Vodafone Idea has not violated any TRAI guidelines and the disconnection was carried out with proper procedure. The counsel argued that the alleged transactions were carried out from the bank account of Kingston Travels, and the respondent was defrauded by the fraudsters.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the abrupt disconnection by Vodafone Idea led to financial loss. The disconnection was arbitrary in nature and violated consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Opinion of the Bench

• The telecom service provider was negligent because it issued duplicate SIM cards based on fake accounts.
• The names on the PAN card were different. The service provider issued a duplicate SIM in the name of Harshada Birju Dholepatil, while the respondent’s name is Harshada Bindu Dholepatil.

Final Decision

• The tribunal upheld the order passed by the Adjudicating Officer.

Stanzin Angmo, a graduate of Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, worked on this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2025.