| Final Order / Judgement | DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, PATIALA. Consumer Complaint No. 270 of 12.7.2016 Decided on: 26.3.2018 Ajit Singh son of Sh.Mohinder Singh, resident of village Kutbanpur, Tehsil Samana District Patiala. …………...Complainant Versus 1. M/s Chhabra Electricals, Near Shiv Mandir, Samana, Tehsil Samana, District Patiala through its owners Yash Pal Chhabra Ashok Chhabra. 2. The Managing Director, M/s Voltas Limited, S.C.O.201,202,203, IInd Floor, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh. …………Opposite Parties Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. QUORUM Smt. Neena Sandhu, President Smt. Neelam Gupta, Member ARGUED BY: Sh.R.C.Cheema,Advocate, counsel for complainant. Sh.Vinay Sood, Advocate, counsel for opposite parties. ORDER SMT.NEELAM GUPTA, MEMBER - The complainant purchased one voltas split A.C. Model, 1.5 ton, from Op no.1, vide invoice No.26541 dated 24.6.2015 for a sum of Rs.27,800/-.That after one and a half month of using the said AC, there was leakage of water from it and the complainant approached OP no.1 who suggested the complainant to lodge a complaint with the customer care. The complainant lodged a complaint on customer care No.1800 2664555 and a mechanic of the OP came to the house of the complainant and rectified the problem. But after 4-5 days, the AC again stopped working and the complainant contacted OP no.1 and also lodged a complaint with the customer care . Thereafter, the complainant visited OP no.1 and requested for repairing the said AC or to replace the same but to no use. OP no.1 kept on lingering on the matter on one pretext or the other. The complainant made so many complaints to the customer care (i.e. on 5.6.2016, 7.6.2016 and 14.6.2016) but to no avail. On 15.6.2016, he got served a legal notice to the OPs. The complainant underwent a lot of mental and physical inconvenience due to non functioning of the said A.C.Ultimately he approached this Forum under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act(for short the Act),1986.
- On merits, OPs appeared through counsel and filed their reply to the complaint. Admittedly the AC in question was purchased by the complainant from OP No.1. It is clearly denied that the AC was not functioning properly from the very beginning .It is stated that the complainant brought the matter into the notice of the OP no.2 in the month of September,2015 regarding the leakage problem due to blockage in the internal drainage pipe and the same was rectified to the satisfaction of the complainant. Thereafter, the complainant never lodged any complaint regarding any problem in the A.C. After denying all the allegations made in the complaint, it was prayed to dismiss the complaint.
- In support of the complaint, the ld. counsel for the complainant has tendered in evidence,Ex.CA, affidavit of the complainant alongwith documents Exs.C1 to C6 and closed the evidence of the complainant.
- The ld. counsel for OPs No.1&2 has tendered in evidence Ex.OPA affidavit of Sh.Gurbachan Singh, Area Service Manager of Voltas alongwith document Ex.OP1 and closed the evidence of OPs.
- We have heard the ld. counsel for the parties, gone through the written arguments filed by the ld. counsel for the complainant and have also gone through the record of the case, carefully.
- Ex.C1 is the invoice, whereby the complainant purchased one Split AC from the OP no.1 for a sum of Rs.27800/- on 24.6.2015. Ex.C2 are the e-mails sent by OPs to the complainant on 6.6.2016.Mark ‘A’ is the warranty card.Ex.C3 is the legal notice dated 15.6.2016. Inspite of lodging of complaint as well as sending legal notice, the OPs did not rectify the problem in the A.C. Whereas the only plea taken by the OPs is that the complainant made a complaint in the month of September,2015 regarding water leakage and the same was rectified upto the satisfaction of the complainant. Ex.OP1 is the job sheet dated 20.7.2016 placed on record by the OPs wherein the problem mentioned is ‘Internal Drain Blockage’ but the complainant refused to get the product serviced.
- In the present case, the water leakage problem occurred during the warranty period and the OPs were bound to rectify the same which they failed to do and it amounted to deficiency of service on their part.
- As an upshot of the aforesaid discussion, we allow the complaint of the complainant with a direction to the OPs to rectify the problem in the said AC by repairing/replacing the defective part(s) free of cost and if that is not possible to replace the same with a new one with requisite warranty. The OPs are further directed to pay a sum of Rs.3000/- as compensation for the harassment undergone by the complainant alongwith a sum of Rs.3000/- as litigation expenses. Order be complied by the OPs within a period of 30 days from the date of the receipt of the certified copies of this order. Certified copies of this order be sent to the parties free of cost under the Rules.Thereafter, file be indexed and consigned to the Record Room.
ANNOUNCED DATED:26.3.2018 NEENA SANDHU PRESIDENT NEELAM GUPTA MEMBER | |
