Before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Rohtak.
Complaint No. : 346
Instituted on : 07.09.2020
Decided on : 24.08.2022.
Khushi Ram Jakhar age-71 yrs. s/o Sh. Hari Singh R/o A92, Preet Vihar, Rohtak-124001,
………..Complainant.
Vs.
- Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd. 12th floor, Ambience Tower, NH-8, Ambience Island, DLF Phase 3, Sector 24, Gurugram-122002(Haryana) Email:helpline@in.panasonic.com. Through its Head Office Manager.
- Rohilla Traders, Opposite Old I.T.T. Circular Road, Near Chinnyot Colony, Rohtak-124001(Haryana)
……….Opposite parties.
COMPLAINT U/S 12 OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT,1986.
BEFORE: SH.NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT.
DR. TRIPTI PANNU, MEMBER.
DR. VIJENDER SINGH, MEMBER.
Present: Sh. Digvijay Jakhar, Advocate for the complainant.
Sh. Yoginder Singh Dalal, Advocate for opposite party no.1.
Opposite party no. 2 already exparte.
ORDER
NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT:
1. Brief facts of the case as per complainant are that on 27.05.2020, he had purchased one Panasonic, 1.5 Tone, Inverter Wi-fi Split AC from opposite party no. 2 amounting to Rs.35,500/- vide invoice no.2969, dated 27.05.2020 and the warranty provided by the manufacturer i.e. opposite party no. 1. From the very first month of its purchase, complainant started facing some issues regarding cooling, tripping, noise coming from indoor unit, wifi connectivity issue, water drain from inner and outer unit etc. On 05.06.2020, complainant raised the complaint and opposite party sent an sms (regarding LED instead of AC) but no mechanic ever came for repair. Thereafter complainant raised many complaints through emails but his problem has not been resolved. On 29.08.2020 a technician visited the complainant house but the issues were not properly sorted out by him and the said AC unit is still not working properly. Hence, this complaint and its is prayed that opposite parties may kindly be directed to pay an amount of Rs.35,500/- on account of AC bill and installation charges alongwith interest @ 24% per annum and to pay Rs.50,000/- on account of compensation, harassment and Rs. 15,000/- as litigation expenses incurred by the complainant.
2. After registration of complaint, notices were issued to the opposite party. Opposite party no.1 in its reply has submitted that the complainant had purchased the alleged product on 27.05.2020 and on the next day i.e. 28.05.2020, the same was installed by the Panasonic authorized Service Centre itself. After installing the AC, the same was operated in front of the complainant, to satisfy the proper installation of the product. On 28.08.2020, the complainant raised a complaint for the very first time with respect to an issue of sound coming from the AC. Upon receiving the complaint, the service engineer of the answering opposite party immediately visited the premises of the complainant on 29.08.2020 and inspected the product. After inspecting the same, he made some adjustments to the AC and made it in the perfect working condition as before. It is denied that the problem of the sound issue in the AC detected by the service engineer was not resolved completely and that the service engineer refused to provide a copy of job sheet to the complainant. It is further submitted that after the first complaint of the complainant on 28.08.2020, no other complaint was raised by the complainant and no emails or notice was received by the answering opposite party. Opposite party no. 1 also submitted that they had also contacted the complainant in respect of notice of this Hon’ble Commission, to enquire and inspect the said product for any issue being suffered by the complainant. However, the complainant refused to get the product inspected and instead only demanded the refund of the purchase price of the product. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and opposite party no.1 prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs. Notice issued to the opposite party No. 2 not received back either served or unserved. As such, opposite party No. 2 was proceeded against exparte vide order dated 20.11.2020 of this Commission.
3. Complainant has tendered affidavit Ex.CW1/A, documents Ex.C1 to Ex.C7 and closed his evidence on dated 04.03.2021. On the other hand, learned counsel for the opposite party no. 1 has tendered affidavit Ex. RW-1/A, documents Ex. R-1 to Ex. R-2 and closed his evidence on dated 22.07.2021.
4. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through material aspects of the case very carefully.
5. As per bill Ex.C1 complainant purchased the A.C. for Rs.35500/- on dated 27.05.2020. As per copy of SMS dated 05.06.2020, opposite party received a complaint from the complainant. As per copy of email dated 18.08.2020 Ex.C3 there was some problem of ‘cooling issue’ in the A.C. Complainant again made complaint on 31.08.2020 placed on record as Ex.C5 for the problems of ‘cooling, tripping and sound problems etc’. Hence from the emails placed on record by the complainant, it is observed that the AC in question became defective within 3 months of its purchase but the same could not be repaired or replaced by the opposite parties within warranty period, which shows that there is some manufacturing defect in the A.C. in question.. Hence there is deficiency in service on the part of opposite parties and opposite party No.1 being manufacturer of the A.C. is liable to refund the price of A.C. in question.
6. In view of the fact and circumstances of the case we hereby allow the compliant and direct the opposite party No.1 to pay the amount of Rs.35500/-(Rupees thirty five thousand and five hundred only) and shall also pay Rs.6000/-(Rupees six thousand only) as compensation on account of deficiency in service as well as litigation expenses to the complainant within 45 days from the date of decision, failing which opposite party no.1 shall be liable to pay interest 9% p.a. on the awarded amount of Rs.35500/- from the date of decision i.e. 24.08.2022 till its realization to the complainant. However, complainant is directed to hand over the A.C. in question to the opposite party No.1 at the time of making the payment by the opposite party No.1.
7. Copy of this order be supplied to both the parties free of costs. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.
Announced in open court:
24.08.2022.
................................................
Nagender Singh Kadian, President
..........................................
Tripti Pannu, Member.
.....................................................
Vijender Singh, Member.
