Govt told to pay up for faulty laptop bought under scheme
Scheme was formulated by the government to make the teacher more qualified
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (KSCDRC) has upheld a Malappuram District Consumer Forum order directing the IT@school to compensate a school teacher for the faulty laptop he received under a government scheme.
As per the complainant, Manoj P, a teacher at the GMUP School, Areacode, Malappuram, he had purchased a Chirag brand laptop for Rs 17,770 in May 2011.
He bought it under the ‘laptop and netbook for teachers’ scheme implemented by IT @ School project run by the Department of Education.
The complainant approached the Malappuram Executive Director of IT@school and the service provider RP Infosystem, Kochi, alleging that the laptop became defective soon after sales. Both refused to respond to his complaints and he moved consumer forum.
The opposite parties contended that there was no consumer relationship between them and Mr Manoj as the laptop was given under a government scheme. However, the forum ordered full refund of money paid by the teacher with 10 per cent interest apart from a compensation of Rs 10,000.
The commission which upheld the order stated that the scheme was formulated by the government to make the teacher more qualified and the teacher had to pay for this purpose.
Hence, the government cannot shirk the responsibility of providing a defect-free laptop to the customer.
