DATE OF FILING : 07-02-2014.
DATE OF S/R : 06-03-2014.
DATE OF FINAL ORDER : 29-04-2014.
Alok Mitra,
7, Chowdhury Para Lane, P.S. Shibpur,
District –Howrah.-------------------------------------------------------------- COMPLAINANT.
- Versus -
Palash Bhattacharya,
Reliable Services,
55/1, Hridaya Krishna Banerjee Lane,
P.S. Bantra, District – Howrah,
PIN – 711 101.-----------------------------------------------------------------OPPOSITE PARTY.
P R E S E N T
President : Shri T.K. Bhattacharya, M.A. LL.B. WBHJS.
Member : Shri P.K. Chatterjee.
Member : Smt. Jhumki Saha.
F I N A L O R D E R
1. Complainant. Alok Mitra, by filing a petition U/S 12 of the C.P. Act, 1986 ( as amended up to date ) has prayed for a direction to be given upon the o.p., Palash Bhattacharya, to refund Rs. 8,200/- being the charges taken towards A.M.C. of the water purifiers, to pay Rs. 5,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment and Rs. 3,000/- as litigation costs along with other reliefs as the Forum may deem fit and proper.
2. Brief facts of the case is that complainant, on being requested by o.p., changed his old water purifier for an exchange price of Rs. 7,000/- paid in two installment vide invoice cum receipt no. Feb’14 dated 15-02-2010. But even after repeated requests made by the complainant, o.p. did not supply any warranty card or booklet for their new water purifier. And for the A.M.C. i.e., annual maintenance charges, complainant paid Rs. 2,500/- in cash on 20-01-2011 and the contract period was from 10-02-2011 to 09-08-2013 vide contract no. 086. But the water purifier’s, bought on 15-02-2010, R.O. Pump became out of order. And he had to pay Rs. 3,200/- for purchasing a new R.O. Pump vide contract receipt no. 034 paid through cheque no. 380411 dated 16-02-2012 with two years’ warranty i.e., upto 15-02-2014. It is further stated by the complainant that in between 10-02-2011 to 09-08-2013, o.p. carried out his job only on two days i.e., on 23-09-2012 and 26-09-2012. Again on 27-12-2012 through contract no. 441 dated 27-12-2012, complainant made another contract for A.M.C. of the said water purifier for which contract period was from 09-08-2013 to 08-08-2015 for an amount of Rs. 2,500/-. Complainant wanted to pay the said amount in two installments as o.p. did not carry on his previous job perfectly. But o.p. was not agreeable to that. Moreover, o.p. assured the complainant that during the first year of latest A.M.C., complainant was not required to pay any thing towards the cost of ‘ Membren’, which is almost Rs. 1,500/- and also he was not required to pay for any spare parts which might have been required during the 1st year of A.M.C. and as per the previous contract, o.p. would be rendering all due services. So, on being fully assured, complainant paid the entire charges of Rs. 2,500/- to o.p. towards this new A.M.C. But unfortunately, on 28-12-2012, his purifier again went out of order. He was contacting o.p. repeatedly, but o.p. did not pay any need to his phone calls. Finding no other alternative, he called another company and it was detected that R.O. Pump has again gone out of order and on 30-12-2012, he bought R.O. Pump for an amount of Rs. 2,200/- vide money receipt dated 30-12-2012,( no. 0372) although the R.O. Pump bought on 16-02-2012 was having warranty upto 15-02-2014. And during this period he had to buy drinking water from outside. It is further stated by the complainant that the only source of water at his house is a deep-well and the water of that well is purified by the water purifier and used as drinking as well as household purpose. But o.p. is neither attending his phone calls nor paying any heed to settle the complaints of the complainant. Being frustrated, complainant filed this instant petition before this Forum praying for the aforesaid reliefs.
3. Notice was served. O.p. neither appear and nor file any written version. Accordingly, the case heard ex parte.
4. Upon pleadings of both parties two points arose for determination :
i) Is there any deficiency in service on the part of the O.P. ?
ii) Whether the complainant is entitled to get any relief as prayed for ?
DECISION WITH REASONS :
5. Both the points are taken up together for consideration. We have carefully gone
through the complaint/petition and its annexures and noted their contents. We all know that water is our bare necessity and without water, we cannot think of our life. O.p. has harassed the complainant which has got no explanation. And it is to be mentioned that this is not an isolated case which has been filed against this instant o.p. There are and were many cases filed against this instant o.p. alleging deficiency in providing service. It is really beyond our understanding that why o.p. is so much careless about an issue relating to supply of purified water which has become detrimental to the complainant and his family’s health. Moreover, even after receiving the notice from this Forum, he did not bother to appear and file his written version, which clearly shows that he has accepted all the allegations leveled against him by the complainant. So it is very clear to us that o.p. has not only sold a defective goods but also did not care to provide due services to the complainant towards A.M.C. which caused severe mental as well as physical harassment to the complainant.
Hence,
O R D E R E D
That the C. C. Case No. 65 of 2014 ( HDF 65 of 2014 ) be allowed ex parte with costs against the O.P.
That the O.P. is directed to refund Rs 8200 within 30 days from the date of this order and complainant is directed to return the R.O PUMP bought on 16.02.12 to the O.P(costs Rs.3200). If complainant fails to return the said R.O. Pump bought on 16-02-2012 from the o.p., o.p. is directed to refund Rs. 5,000/- to the complainant within the scheduled time.
That the o.p. is further directed to pay an amount of Rs.2000 as compensation and Rs. 1,000/- as litigation costs to the complainant within one month from the date of this order.
If the o.p. fails to comply with the above order in toto within the stipulated period, the entire amount of Rs.11,200/- or Rs. 8000/-, which one is applicable, shall carry an interest @ 10% p.a. till full realization.
The complainant is at liberty to put the decree into execution after expiry of the appeal period.
Supply the copies of the order to the parties, as per rule.
DICTATED & CORRECTED
BY ME.
( Jhumki Saha )
Member, C.D.R.F.,Howrah.
