Hyderabad: The Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (TSCDRC) has come to the rescue of customers who had complained that their costly electronic goods had turned out to be faulty.
In over a dozen cases last year, the consumer forum has passed orders in favour of customers who had demanded that their faulty mobile or laptop or water purifier be replaced along with compensation and costs for “mental agony.”
Apart from faulty devices, the consumer forum also awarded compensation to customers for refusing to service equipment.
In a case between Mr Praveen Jain and Eureka Forbes Limited, the court ordered compensation to Mr Jain, who had purchased a water purifier from Eureka Forbes Limited, Banjara Hills.
The company had not replaced the purifying candles of the device free of cost despite it being within the warranty period.
In its order, the court noted: “The opposite party denied the allegations. Whenever the complainant contacted customer care they always sent different escalation levels but there was no progress. The opposite parties failed to replace the candles and subjected the complainant to harassment.” The court ordered replacing of candles, a compensation of Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 as costs.
In another case, in November 2014, when the display of Ms K. Chandrakala’s HTC mobile that she had purchased Rs 50,000 wasn’t working, she gave it for repairs to the shop from where she had bought it from. Initially, the repair charges were estimated at Rs 674 but when she went to collect the mobile, they demanded pay Rs 11000. Ms Chandrakala objected and demanded that her phone be returned, but was refused.
On June 29, 2015, the court ordered that the repairs should be carried out at the promised charge and “the opposite party should pay Rs 20,000 a punitive damages, Rs 20,000 towards compensation and Rs 2,000 towards costs.”
A few of the over a dozen cases handled by the consumer forum in the last nine months
Case: Praveen Jain Vs Eureka Forbes Limited, Banjara Hills
Court Order: Replace product free of cost and provide compensation.
Case: P. Sriram Chakravarthi Vs. Nokia India (Mobi Quest)
Court Order: Pay the price of the phone at 9% interest per annum.
Case: Mohd. Yousuf Vs. Cell World Communications, Khairatabad
Court Order:Pay Rs 28K to the party with compensation and 9% interest.
Case: B.Naveen Kumar Vs. Samsung
Court Order: Pay Rs 31,900 with interest at 9% per annum and Rs 10,000 compensation.
Case: K.Chandrakala Vs. M/s. TVS Electronics
Court Order: Repair the product and pay damages and Rs 20,000 compensation
