DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,

PATIALA.

                                      Complaint No. CC/15/141 of 10.7.2015

                                      Decided on:        18.11.2015

Harvinder Singh Batra son of Sh.Amar Singh Batra resident of #6, SST Nagar, PNB Block,Rajpura Road, Patiala.

                                                                   …………...Complainant

                                      Versus

1.      Store 1800.Com,S-3,Ground Floor, Spanish Garden, RG Baruah Road,Opp. Assam State Zoo,Ambika Giri Nagar, Guwahati,Assam, India-781001.

2.      ICICI Bank, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi through its Branch Manager.

                                                                   …………….Ops

                                      Complaint under Section 12 of the

                                      Consumer Protection Act.

                                      QUORUM

                                      Sh.D.R.Arora, President

                                      Smt.Neelam Gupta, Member

                                      Smt.Sonia Bansal,Member

Present:

For the complainant:   Sh.Manpreet Singh , Advocate

For Op No.1:                Ex-parte            

                                         ORDER

D.R.ARORA, PRESIDENT

1. It is alleged by the complainant that he had placed an order on 11.4.2015 on-line with Op no.1 for the purchase of one Sony Bravia Full HD 3D Smart LED television,Model 50W900B with two free gifts i.e. one Apple iphone model-6 16GB Gold and one Sony Home Theatre model-BDV-E290 for Rs.91,400/- under IPL offer scheme. Op no.1 is a sales store and it operates through its website www.store1800.com and conducts the business transactions through Op no.2 namely ICICI Bank, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi having maintained an account in the name of Spank Brand(Store 1800) bearing No.0831-0500-0995 bearing IFSC :ICIC0000831.The order of the complainant was confirmed through toll free No.180030104990 and Op no.1 issued the performa invoice No.S58689978 with terms of the sale including the promise  to deliver the consignment within 48 hours on dispatch. Op no.1 further confirmed the order on the complainant’s e-mail address at
2. After a gap of three days when the complainant had not received the product he made an enquiry through toll free No.1800 30104990 and Op no.1 informed the complainant through e-mail that they had received the payment against order No.S746525 but due to quality issues from the back end, the product had gone for a quality check and they wanted to deliver the best to their customers and promise to update the shipping and delivery details as soon as Op no.1 received the quality check report.
3. Again after  a gap of few days  when the complainant failed to receive the delivery of the product, he again approached Op no.1 and who apologized for the inconvenience through e-mail dated April 20^th,2015 and stated that the product had failed to pass the quality check test and requested the complainant to up date his account details so that Op no.1 could initiate the process for the refund of the amount. The complainant sent the request for the refund of Rs.91400/- through e-mail to the sales department of Store 1800.com .After sometime the complainant received the phone call from the office of Op no.1 that a four digits amount was being refunded to him just to confirm his particulars and the Op asked the complainant to provide the account number preferably maintained with ICICI bank and which was provided by the complainant. Consequently a sum of Rs.7540/- was credited in the saving bank account No.150801502136 of the complainant maintained with ICICI Bank on 8.5.2015 with an assurance that the balance amount will be credited shortly after some days.
4. However, Op no.1 failed to refund the balance amount of Rs.83860/- , which amounted to a deficiency of service as also criminal breach of interest on the part of Op no.1. The complainant approached Op no.1 several times for the refund of the amount or to deliver the product but he was put off under one or the other pretext and finally Op no.1 stopped picking up the phone receiver or to reply his e-mail. At this the complainant approached Op no.2 through e-mail dated 14.5.2015 at
5. The complainant again approached Op no.1 through registered letter dated 23.4.2015 for the refund of Rs.83860/- with interest but his letter was returned undelivered. The complainant also lodged the complaint through his e-mail on 21.5.2015 with the Sr.Supdt. of police Assam Gauhati and SSP, Patiala. SSP, Patiala had referred the matter to the office of the economic wing and the complainant was informed that his complaint had been registered at No.112 dated 30.6.2015. The complainant also approached National Consumer Helpline and got his complaint registered vide docket No.440409870015 on 2.6.2015. Ultimately, it is alleged by the complainant that he has suffered a loss of Rs.83860/- as also the interest thereon because of the cheating made by Op no.1 besides the harassment as also the mental agony for which he is entitled to a compensation in a sum of Rs.1 lac.Accordingly the complainant brought this complaint against the Ops under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986 ( for short the Act) for a direction to the Ops to pay him Rs.83860/- with interest @ 12%; to pay him Rs.one lac by way of compensation on account of the harassment and the mental agony experienced by him and further to award him Rs.11000/-towards the costs of the complaint.
6. The cognizance of the complaint was taken against Op no.1 only but who despite service failed to turn up and was accordingly proceeded against exparte.
7. In the exparte evidence, the complainant tendered in evidence Ex.CA his sworn affidavit alongwith documents Exs.C1 to C13 and his counsel closed the evidence.
8. The complainant failed to file the written arguments. We have heard the learned counsel for the complainant and gone through the evidence on record.
9. The complainant failed to disclose in the complaint as to how and from where he had remitted the amount of Rs.91400/- into the account of Op no.1 maintained with Op no.2. Before the complaint was admitted, the complainant produced his statement of account maintained with Punjab & Sind Bank got from the branch, N.K.Road, Patiala so as to show that the price of the Sony Bravia was remitted through the said bank on 13.4.2015 but during the course of the evidence, the complainant has produced the positive evidence which goes to show that the amount was actually remitted by the complainant through his account No.01231300001380 maintained with Punjab & Sind Bank,Loha Bazar branch Dhuri bearing IFSC code No.PSIB0000272 as would appear from Ex.C5, the copy of the e-mail dated May 14,2015 sent by the complainant through his e-mail ID
10. Again the complainant had disclosed his same very account number maintained with Punjab & Sind Bank, Loha Bazar, Dhuri bearing IFSC code No.PSI200000272 through the e-mail dated 20^th April,2015 Ex.C5 sent by him to the sales department of Op no.1 through e-mail ID th ,2015,Ex.C6 that a sum of Rs.7540/- was received by him in his account No.150801502136 maintained with ICICI bank Dhuri and that still an amount of Rs.83860/- was due.
11. Sh.Manpreet Singh, the learned counsel for the complainant maintained that Ex.C13, copy of the statement of account No.01231300001380 is maintained by the complainant with Punjab & Sind Bank branch N.K.Road, Patiala but his said submissions is belied when it is noted from Ex.C13 that the statement of account was given by the service outlet bearing ID No.0531 N.K.Road, Patiala whereas the ID(IFSC) of the  Punjab & Sind Bank branch Dhuri,District Sangrur was disclosed by the complainant in his e-mail Ex.C6 as PSIB0000272 and similar particulars regarding the same were furnished in his e-mail Ex.C5 dated 20^th April,2015. In that way, it would appear that the complainant tried to show that his aforesaid account No.01231300001380 is maintained with Punjab & Sind Bank branch N.K.Road, Patiala by way of getting a copy from the said bank, which in Ex.C13 is shown to be the ‘service outlet’ having suppressed the fact that actually he maintained his said account with Punjab & Sind Bank branch Loha Bazar, Dhuri as would appear from the admissions made by him in the e-mail Ex.C5 and Ex.C6.
12. Thus, it would appear that the complainant had remitted the amount for purchasing the product through his account maintained with Punjab & Sind Bank, branch Loha Bazar ,Dhuri and he received partial refund of Rs.7540/- in his account No.150801502136 of the ICICI Bank branch Dhuri and in that way no cause of action to file the complaint ever occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of this Forum and therefore, we are of the considered view that the complainant could not maintain the complaint against Op no.1 at Patiala. Consequently the complaint is hereby rejected for want of jurisdiction. The complainant is at liberty to file the fresh complaint against the Op within the jurisdiction of the competent Forum/Court as still the period of limitation has not run out.

Pronounced

Dated: 18.11.2015

                   Sonia Bansal                Neelam Gupta                        D.R.Arora

          Member                        Member                                  President