Telangana Consumer forum tells de-addiction centre to pay Rs 5 lakh to petitioner

HYDERABAD: The Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Serenity Foundation, a rehabilitation centre in Secunderabad, to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to R Vijay Kumar, a resident of Kacheguda who works in a Bengaluru-based softfare company, for resorting to unethical, illegal and unfair trade practices.

Vijay Kumar was admitted by his family to the rehabilitation centre to help him overcome his alcohol addition. They paid Rs 67,345 to Serenity Foundation towards the fee. According to the complaint, Vijay Kumar was ill-treated and tortured physically and mentally at the rehabilitation centre.

‘Lacked proper facilities’

Apart from this, the rehabilitation centre was overcrowded with patients and lacked proper facilities for the inmates, the complainant stated. In violation of the terms and conditions of the centre, 24-hour psychiatrist counselling wasn’t  provided to the patient. Neither was proper medication provided to the complainant who suffered pain due to a fracture in the right wrist.

The foundation is being run by a general physician hailing from Nellore who never visited the Hyderabad facility. Worse, there was only one attendant to take care of all the inmates, the complainant said.After hearing the case, the forum observed that the rehabilitation Centre was expected to render services with full-time attention and care to the patients. “They are addicts and need lots of counselling by specialists,” it said.

The forum came to the conclusion that Serenity Foundation was guilty of deficient services and unfair trade practices by running a rehabilitation centre without proper facilities and a qualified psychiatrist.
Hence, it has directed the rehabilitation centre to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and legal cost of Rs  20,000 within 30 days.