Grandfather of SEA student sues Amplia for cutting service though bill was paid

A Penal grandfather whose grandson is due to sit the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination on July 1, has taken their internet service provider Amplia to court after his service was cut although his daughter-in-law paid his bills.

Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell granted an interim injunction compelling Amplia to immediately restore Roopnarine Jaggernauth’s service, pending the hearing and determination of the claim before her.

She also ordered that Amplia should be served by e-mail to its human resources manager and on its messenger account on its Facebook platform.

Jaggernath, 76, is claiming his internet service was unlawfully disconnected.

His claim explained he was the original holder of a bmobile internet account. He said sometime after, Amplia began sending him receipts. He said although he was never told of a switch, his daughter-in-law, who paid the bill for him, was told the account was now an Amplia account.

She continued paying the bill until September 2020, when he was told he was in arrears.

Jaggernauth said it appeared some payments were still credited to his previous bmobile account, while others were credited to the Amplia account.

After providing the company with the receipts for the bills paid, Jaggernauth was told the matter was being investigated. He was then told that $1,300 was overpaid to the bmobile account and this sum would be credited to the Amplia account.

However, he said he was told there was still an outstanding amount of $3,106 owed on the latter, although he insisted his daughter-in-law made monthly payments to the account and had receipts to prove it.

Another investigation was allegedly launched, but Jaggernauth said he has not been contacted on the results of that probe, although his daughter-in-law has continued to make payments to the account.

He said on May 19, his service was cut and he was told he had to pay off the arrears, but was not told the amount.

He said his daughter-in-law begged Amplia for the service to be restored, since his grandson was preparing to sit the July 1 SEA exam and needed access to the internet for online classes.

Jaggernauth was allegedly told this could not be done until the account was brought up to date, either in full or a percentage of the amount owed.

A little more than half the arrears was paid, and the family waited the 24-48 hours for the service to be restored, but it was not. Jaggernauth then approached the court for redress.

Jaggernauth is represented by attorneys Pavitra Ramharack, Brandon Sirju, and David-Mark Kidney.