Atul travelled by railway from Kanpur to Lucknow, after purchasing a ticket from the Railway Authorities. When he tried to alight at Lucknow railway station in the darkness, the train started without a whistle. He fell d

According to Section 2(1)(g) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, deficiency means any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract or otherwise in relation to any service. The terms consumer and service are defined under Section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as well. Passengers travelling by trains on payment of the stipulated fare charged for the ticket are 'consumers' and the facility of transportation by rail provided by the railway administration is a 'service' rendered for consideration as defined in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Failure to maintain the quality of performance required by the law or failure to provide services as per warranties given, by the provider of the service would amount to 'deficiency'. In given problem Atul travelled by railway is a consumer and Atul suffered injury due to deficiency of service of railway. Hence the contention of the Railway Authority that it was the fault of the electricity distribution company who failed to supply electricity at that point in time, is not tenable. Not providing the proper and required facilities will be covered under the deficiency in service as per the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and Railway Authority is liable to compensate to Atul.