Telecom, utilities and civic services guides

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Three different regulators stand behind the services in this category, and complaints fail when people pick the wrong one. Telecom and broadband sit under TRAI's consumer regulations, with the provider's own appellate authority as the second step and the DoT public grievance route after that. Electricity sits under the Electricity Act 2003, with DISCOM supply timelines, a Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum and then the state electricity ombudsman. Water and sewerage sit with the municipal body or water board, where the citizen charter and the state's right to services Act set the deadlines.

This category collects connection and service problems across all three: installations paid for but never done, speeds far below the plan, deposits that never come back, and new connections that stall for months. It also covers digital business services such as hosting and domain suspensions, where the route is contractual plus the grievance officer under the IT Rules 2021.

One RTI note. Private ISPs and telecom companies are outside RTI, but DISCOMs owned by state governments, municipal water boards and the DoT are public authorities. Where the deadline lives in a citizen charter, an RTI for the charter and your application's file movement is often the fastest pressure you can apply.

• Broadband not installed after you paid
• Broadband speed far below the promised plan
• Broadband deposit or advance not refunded
• Electricity connection delayed at possession
• Water connection delayed at possession
• Cloud, hosting or business email account suspended

Browse the full practical guides index for other topics.