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2013 October 2 - 8 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

TEPCO compensates for damages caused by harmful rumors in Saitama

The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant TEPCO has agreed to compensate a bus service owner in Saitama City who claimed that he suffered a sharp decrease in customers because of harmful rumors related to dangers of radiation.

This was announced by the Saitama Prefectural Federation of Merchant and Industrialists Organizations, which has assisted the 67-year-old business owner in this case.

This man, a provider of bus transportation to golfers to Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, requested in April last year that the Tokyo Electric Power Co. pay him 5.6 million yen in compensation.

TEPCO, however, rejected his request arguing that under the government’s interim guidelines for compensation, only service industries in Fukushima Prefecture are entitled to receive compensation for damages caused by harmful rumors.

In January this year, the man filed a complaint with an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) center. Recognizing the relation between the decline in his customers and the nuclear accident, the center in July proposed a settlement plan to have TEPCO pay the business owner 5 million yen or 90% of the amount he initially requested. TEPCO in September accepted the settlement proposal.

At a press conference in Saitama City on October 1, the man’s lawyer stated that this is a significant outcome which exceeds the state’s interim guidelines.