Tamil Nadu

South Chennai

CC/188/2022

G. Srinivasan - Complainant(s)

Versus

M/s. Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd., and another - Opp.Party(s)

M/s. K.Balasubramanian

14 Dec 2022

ORDER

 

                                                       Date of Complaint Filed : 18.04.2022

                                                       Date of Reservation      : 28.11.2022

                                                         Date of Order               : 14.12.2022

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION,

CHENNAI (SOUTH), CHENNAI-3.

 

PRESENT:    TMT. B. JIJAA, M.L.,                                                 : PRESIDENT

                       THIRU. T.R. SIVAKUMHAR, B.A., B.L.,                :  MEMBER  I 

                      THIRU. S. NANDAGOPALAN., B.Sc., MBA.,         : MEMBER II

 

CONSUMER COMPLAINT No. 188/2022

WEDNESDAY, THE 14^th DAY OF DECEMBER 2022

G.Srinivasan, Aged 47 years,

S/o. R.Gopalakrishnan,

No.94/1, Third Street,

Kannikapuram, K.K.Nagar,

Chennai-600 078.                                                                                                                           ... Complainant                

..Vs..

1.M/s. Flipkart Internet Pvt limited,

   Rep by its authorsed signatory,

   Building Alyssa, Begonia and clove Embassy,

   Tech Village, outer ring road,

   Devarabeesanahalli Village, Bangalore-560103

 

2.M/s. Flipkart Advanz Private Limited,

   Represented by its authorised signatory,

   Building Alyssa, Begonia and clove Embassy,

   Tech Village, Outer ring road,

   Devarabeesanahalli Village,

   Bangalore-560103.                                                                                                                               ...  Opposite Parties

                                                                                                       ******

Counsel for the Complainant          : M/s. K. Balasubramanian

Counsel for the Opposite Parties     : Exparte

 

On perusal of records and after having heard the oral arguments of the Counsel for the Complainant, we delivered the following:

ORDER

Pronounced by Member-I, Thiru. T.R. Sivakumhar, B.A., B.L.,

1.      The Complainant has filed this complaint as against the Opposite Parties under section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and prays to direct the Opposite Party to pay a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- and to pay a sum of Rs.3,000/- towards cost.

2.     The averments of Complaint in brief are as follows:-

 The Complainant is an IT professional, who had subscribed to Flipkart under the user ID sri.gop1974@gmail.com (9962062364) with the said ID, he had made various purchases. He was forced to subscribe for the Flipkart pay later though there was no requirement for him. He had made a purchase on 26.12.2021 Georgette at 14.21 hours IST and placed order for a saree daily ware through the order ID 00223737437148522000. The same was confirmed and the payment of Rs.440/- was made at 14.21 hours. Immediately after the payment, a message was received to respond in respect of the order. The same was responded. All these have taken in the whatsapp chat with NO. 9962062364. He was requested to confirm the cancellation for which he had messaged that he confirm the order and not the cancellation. However, the OTP was requested for the confirmation and satisfaction. The OTP number was given at 19.40 hours and the same was submitted. Immediately he had received the invoice for the purchasing Myntara Gift vouchers numbering 7 to the value of Rs.10,000/- each. He was surprised to receive the order No.423798845054697000 for the purchase of the Myntara Gift vouchers and had immediately informed that he has not placed orders for Myntara vouchers and requested to cancel. Within minutes, at 7.49 pm he had received the receipt for the payment for Myntara Gift vouchers through the Flipkart pay later option. He had not authorized the said purchase nor placed any orders for the same. However, the platform of the 1 and 2 Opposite Parties has been used for such an unauthorised transaction. Without properly giving the details and particulars have caused loss to the Complainant. The said gift vouchers were not received by the complaint till date in his mail. The Opposite Party has allowed some unauthorized person to access the Complainants information and had caused loss to the Complainant, for which the Complainant is not liable to make payment. Further the Complainant smelling some foul play by the Opposite Parties, had lodged the cyber crime incident on 02.01.2022. He had registered a complaint in this regard with the customer care and grievance cell has not evoked any response. He had sent the mail at sri.gop1974@gmail.com to cancel the Myntara Gift voucher, however, nothing has been done.  He had lodged a complaint to K.K.Nagar police station on 01.05.2022 for which acknowledgment has been issued stating money quarrel. Since the complaint given through email has not evoked any response, he had sent a legal notice dated 11.01.2022 and 03.02.2022 called upon the Opposite Party to cancel the purchase of Myntara Gift voucher and bring the Flipkart pay later account to zero and also demanded Rs.5 lakhs for the mental agony and unnecessary waste of time. The 1^st Opposite Party had issued a reply dated 23.02.2022 stating that the they are only the business platform providing for buying and selling and each contract is independent and the 1^st Opposite Party is not at concerned with the same. Since the Complainant had approached the Cyber cell as there are fraudulent activities conducted by unknown persons, the 1^stOpposite Party does not have any authority to do further and had stated that there is no claim against Flipkart. The reply is vague and having admitted that the 1^st Opposite Party is the platform for the E commerce, is bound to safe guard the interest of the persons who are engaged in the trading on the platform. The 2^ndOpposite Party had issued a demand of Rs. 13,838/- being the installment due, which was not at all availed by him. The 2^nd Opposite Party had leaked his details to see that he is cheated of the entire amount. The fact that the Complainant had a pay later facility of Rs. 70,000/- is not known to any one and the 1^st Opposite Party had allowed its platform to be misused for the business of the 2^nd Opposite Party and as such the Opposite Parties had committed the act of unfair trade practice and unfair contract and as such they are liable to compensate him suitably. The Opposite Parties were not able to clearly identify as to who had benefitted the said amount of Rs.70,000/- which is the lapse on the part of the Opposite Parties and in the absence of furnishing any details, the 2^nd Opposite Party cannot claim the amount of Rs.70,000/- alleged to have been paid. Till date the Opposite Party are not able to identify the beneficiary, which shows that the Opposite Parties were only trying to conceal their illegal activity. Hence the complaint.

3.   The Complainant submitted his Proof Affidavit and Written Arguments. On the side of the Complainant, documents marked as  Ex.A-1 to Ex.A-13.The Opposite Parties did not appear before this Commission even after sufficient notice served and remained absent and set exparte.

Points for Consideration

1. Whether there is deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite Party?

2. Whether the Complainant is entitled for reliefs claimed?

3. To what other reliefs the Complainant is entitled to?

Point No.1:

The disputes of the Complainant are that he had placed an order for purchase of a saree with the 1^st Opposite Party and the same was accepted and the material was delivered to him. Thereafter he was asked to confirm the cancellation of the above said order, though he had informed that he had not requested for any cancellation, he was asked to send the OTP on confirmation. He had shared the OTP and thereafter he had received a message for purchase of Gift Vouchers to the tune of Rs.70,000/- under Flikpart Pay Later option, which he had availed with the 1^st Opposite Party and except the 1^st Opposite Party no third party knows about the said option availed by the Complainant. As he had not opted for any gift vouchers under Pay Later option, he had registered a complaint with the 1^st Opposite Party and since the 1^st Opposite Party had not responded his issue properly, he had lodged a complaint before Cyber Cell Police, and a CSR was given by the K.K.Nagar Police Station. Sine the Opposite Parties had leaked his details of Pay Later option availed with the 1^st Opposite Party and thereby had unauthorisedly allowed some other third party to purchase from the said option, hence he was not liable to meet out the demand made by the Opposite Parties.

On perusal of the Complaint and the exhibits marked in support of the complaint, it is clear that the Complainant had placed an order for purchase of a saree, but as per Ex.A-3 Mail dated 02.01.2022 sent by the Opposite Parties to the Complainant, it is found that the return request of the said Saree by the seller was accepted and to that effect Ex.A-3 was sent. The Complainant had contended that as he had received the said saree, he had not sent any return request and he was asked to provide the OTP for confirmation and satisfaction. Further, the contentions of the Complainant that he had not made any purchase for a sum of Rs.70,000/-, an invoice for purchasing Myntra Gift vouchers of Rs.10,000/- each for 7 numbers has been sent to him at 7.49 pm on 02.01.2022 and on receipt of the same he had immediately informed the Opposite Parties to cancel the said order within minutes. From Ex.A-2 mail dated 02.01.2022 sent by the Opposite Parties to the Complainant, it is clearly mentioned that the payment was made successfully using Flipkart Pay Later EMI and it will be billed based on the EMI tenure selected, for which the Complainant had contended that his details of Pay Later Option was shared by the Opposite Parties and thereby some third parties had accessed his details and had made the said purchase. Further, the Complainant had lodged a complaint regarding the above said transaction with Cyber Crime Police on 02.01.2022 as found in Ex.A-5 and had produced a CSR dated 05.01.2022, Ex.A-6 for the complaint lodged before K.K Nagar Police Station, and thereafter had taken up the issue to the Opposite Parties by Legal Notice dated 11.01.2022 and 03.02.2022, marked as Exhibits A-8 and A-9, respectively and the reply sent by the Opposite Parties on 23.02.2022 and 05.03.2022 were marked as Exs.A-10 and A-11, respectively, wherein the Opposite Parties had replied that since the Complainant had lodged a criminal complaint and the same was under investigation by the Cyber Crime Police, they could not further investigate in the issue.

On discussions made above and on considering the facts and circumstances of the case, it would be clear that the Complainant had not produced any material evidence to prove his contentions with regard to the return request of the saree ordered was not made by him and sharing OTP was sought by the Opposite Parties and hence the same are not acceptable. Further no material evidence on cancellation request made on the gift vouchers has been produced before this commission, hence the same is not sustainable, if at all some third party had accessed his Pay later Option, the invoice would not have been sent to the Complainant, as found in Ex.A-4 mail dated 02.01.2022 at 9.50pm sent by the Opposite Parties to the Complainant. Therefore, we are of the considered view that the Opposite Parties 1 and 2 had not committed any unfair trade practice and/or deficiency of service to the Complainant. Accordingly Point No.1 is answered against the Complainant.

Point Nos.2 and 3:

As discussed and decided Point No.1 against the Complainant, the Complainant is not entitled for the reliefs claimed in the complaint and hence not entitled for any other relief/s. Accordingly Point Nos.2 and 3 are answered.

        In the result the Complaint is dismissed. No costs.

Dictated to Steno-Typist, transcribed and typed by her, corrected and pronounced by us in the Open Commission, on 14^th of December 2022.

 

S. NANDAGOPALAN               T.R. SIVAKUMHAR                 B.JIJAA

         MEMBER II                       MEMBER I                        PRESIDENT

List of documents filed on the side of the Complainant:-

Ex.A1	02.01.2022	Receipt of the online booking
Ex.A2	02.01.2022	Pay later EMI transaction details
Ex.A3	02.01.2022	Return request receipt
Ex.A4	02.01.2022	Invoice copy
Ex.A5	02.01.2022	Complainant had lodged cyber police complaint
Ex.A6	03.01.2022	Email communication report
Ex.A7	05.01.2022	CSR copy
Ex.A8	11.01.2022	Demand notice issued by the Complainant
Ex.A9	03.02.2022	Demand notice issued by the Complainant
Ex.A10	23.02.2022	Reply notice given by the 1st Opposite Party
Ex.A11	05.03.2022	Reply notice given by the 2nd Opposite Party
Ex.A12	08.03.2022	Intimation letter given by the Opposite Party
Ex.A13	18.03.2022	Re-joinder notice issued by the Complainant

List of documents filed on the side of the Opposite Parties:-

NIL

 

S. NANDAGOPALAN               T.R. SIVAKUMHAR                    B.JIJAA

         MEMBER II                       MEMBER I                         PRESIDENT