Order dictated by:

Sh.S.S.Panesar, President.

Sh.Jaswinder Singh Walia, has brought the instant complaint under section 12 & 13 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 on the allegations that he purchased a Air Conditioner make O General from Opposite Party No.1 being manufactured/ marketed by Opposite Party No.2, vide invoice No. 8749 dated 4.5.2016 for Rs.57,856/- having warranty of five years. The complainant is a ‘consumer’ as provided under the Act and is competent to invoke the jurisdiction of this Forum. Said Air Conditioner was having the inherent manufacturing defects from the very first day of its purchase and was not giving the cooling and making loud noises and the complaint to the said effect were made to Opposite Party No.1 and Opposite Party No.1 tried to rectify the defects, but to no avail. It is pertinent to mention over here that the engineers sent by said Opposite Party has changed and refilled the Gas Twice in the compressor of the said Air Conditioner, but  still there is no cooling.  The complainant has to suffer alongwith his family in the scorching summer heat inspite of spending so much hard  earned money, eve till filing of the present complaint, the engineers sent by Opposite Party failed to start the cooling of the said Air Conditioner as the complainant is regularly making the complaints to Opposite Parties. It is pertinent to mention over here that the said Air Conditioner is lying idle  till date due to callous attitude of the Opposite Parties. Said acts of the Opposite Parties  in not rectifying the Air Conditioner sold to the complainant is an act of deficiency in service,  unfair trade practice and mal practices and is not sustainable in the eyes of law and has caused lot of mental tension, agony and harassment to the complainants. Vide instant complaint, the complainant has sought the following reliefs.

a)       The Opposite Parties  be directed to replace the Air Conditioner of the complainant with the same make or equivalent make or model of Air Conditioner or in alternative refund Rs.57,856/- alongwith interest @ 12% per annum thereon from the date of payment till realization.

b)      Opposite Parties  be directed to pay the compensation of Rs.25,000/- to the complainant.

c)       Opposite Parties  be directed to pay the compensation of the present litigation.

Hence, this complaint.

2.       Upon notice, none appeared on behalf of Opposite Parties  No.1 and 2 despite due service and hence they were proceeded exparte vide order dated 16.9.2016 of this Forum .

3.       In his bid  to prove the case, complainant tendered into evidence  affidavit Ex.C-1 in support of the allegations made in the complaint and also produced copy of bill Ex.C2  and closed his evidence.

4.       We have heard the ld.counsel for the complainant and have carefully gone through the evidence on record.

5.       From the record i.e. pleadings of the parties and averments of the complaint and evidence produced on record by the complainant, it stands fully proved on record that the complainant purchased an Air Conditioner make ‘O General’ from Opposite Party No.1 being manufactured/ marketed by Opposite Party No.2, vide invoice No. 8749 dated 4.5.2016 for Rs.57,856/- having warranty of five years, copy of invoice accounts for Ex.C2. It is alleged that  said Air Conditioner was having the inherent manufacturing defects from the very first day of its purchase and was not giving the cooling and making loud noises and the complaint to the said effect were made to Opposite Party No.1 and Opposite Party No.1 tried to rectify the defects, but to no avail. Not only that, the  engineers sent by said Opposite Party has changed and refilled the Gas Twice in the compressor of the said Air Conditioner, but  still there is no cooling.  The complainant has to suffer alongwith his family in the scorching summer heat inspite of spending huge hard  earned money. Even till filing of the present complaint, the engineers sent by Opposite Party failed to do the needful regarding the  cooling of the said Air Conditioner as the complainant has been regularly making the complaints to Opposite Parties. Since the date of its purchase, said Air Conditioner is lying idle  till date due to callous attitude of the Opposite Parties. The complainant approached the Opposite Parties on so many occasions in this regard,  but the Opposite Parties  did not pay any heed to the request of the complainant to repair the same or to replace the same with new one or to refund the price of the Air Conditioner in question. Ld.counsel for the complainant submitted that as the Air Conditioner  in question is lying idle since the date of its purchase  and the Opposite Parties  failed to get the Air Conditioner in question, repaired  despite repeated requests.  Ld.counsel for the complainant submitted that all this amounts to deficiency of service on the part of the Opposite Parties.

6.       In order to support his case, the complainant alongwith his duly sworn affidavit Ex.C1, has also produced on record the invoice regarding the purchase of the product/ Air Conditioner Ex.C2, but the Opposite Parties  even did not dare to appear before this Forum despite due service. The evidence produced on record  by the complainant remained unrebutted and unchallenged  as none appeared on behalf of the Opposite Parties to contest the case of the complainant nor any person from the Opposite Parties dared to file an affidavit to rebut the case of the complainant. So, from the entire unrebutted evidence produced by the complainant on record, it stands fully proved on record that Air Conditioner   purchased by the complainant from the Opposite Parties vide   Invoice Ex.C2 soon became defective. The complainant sent so many complaints to the Opposite Parties  and the technician of the Opposite Parties  came to repair the Air Conditioner in question, but to no effect. But however, the complainant has not been able to prove that the Air Conditioner was suffering from any manufacturing defect, so as to get the relief of replacement of the same with a new Air Conditioner of same make and model. But however,  it is proved on record that the Air Conditioner in dispute being defective, failed to give proper service to the complainant and the Opposite Parties have  failed to redress the grievance of the complainant, despite making complaints in this regard. As such, Opposite Parties  are deficient in service.   Hence, there is deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite Parties.

7.       Resultantly, we allow the complaint of the complainant exparte with costs and the Opposite Parties  are directed to repair the Air Conditioner of the complainant to the satisfaction of the complainant, without any charges within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. Compliance of this order be made within stipulated period; failing which, the Opposite Parties  jointly and severally are liable to refund the price of the Air Conditioner in question.  The Opposite Parties  are also directed to pay compensation for causing mental tension and harassment to the tune of Rs.5,000/- beside costs of litigation to the tune of Rs.2,000/- to the complainant.  Copies of the orders be furnished to the parties free of cost. File is ordered to be consigned to the record room.

Dated: 25.10.2016