Date of Filing : 16.10.2012
Date of Order : 23.03.2013
BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, KOLAR
Dated 23rd MARCH 2013
PRESENT
Sri. J.N. HAVANUR, B.Sc., LLB (SPL) ……. PRESIDENT
Sri. H.M. SHIVALINGAPPA, B.Sc., LLB …….. MEMBER
CC No. 113 / 2012
Sri. G.V. Gopal Reddy, Adv.
S/o. G. Venkataramareddy,
‘Brundhavana” Nilaya,
2nd Cross, Kalidasa Layout,
Antharagange Main Road, Keelukote,
Kolar – 563 101. ……. Complainant
V/s.
1. Sri. Santhosh, Manager,
Videocon Industries Limited,
No. 62, 3rd Floor, 1st Main, 3rd Cross,
II Stage, Yeshwanthapura Indl. Area,
Yeshwanthpura,
Bangalore – 560 022.
2. The Managing Director,
M/s. Videocon Industries Limited,
At 14 KM Stone, Paithan Road,
Chittegon Village, Paithan Taluk,
Aurangabad District.
3. M/s. Kaveri Electronics,
Prop: Mr. Shameer Naakash Bandi,
Bamboo Bazar,
Kolar – 563 101.
(By Sri. S. Raghu, Adv. for OP3) …… Opposite Parties
ORDER
By Sri. J.N. HAVANUR, PRESIDENT
This Complaint is filed by the Complainant against the Ops 1 to 3 u/s. 12 of the C.P. Act, praying to pass an Order directing the Ops 1 to 3 to pay compensation of Rs.80,000/- and to pay cost of UPS along with interest @ 16% P.A. in the ends of justice & equity. The brief facts of the Complaint can be stated as under:
Respondent Nos. 1 & 2 are the manufacturers of the Electronics & Electrical Home Appliances and Respondent No. 3 is the dealer and sales stores of the Electronics and Electrical Home Appliances. Ops 1 & 2 are the manufacturers of Videocon Electrical UPS Systems and the said systems are being sold through OP3 in the open market with Warranty & Guarantee. On 11.03.2011, Complainant approached OP3 for UPS system for electricity back-up and enquired about branded UPS and at that time OP3 advised him to purchase Videocon Electrical UPS System and he further stated that he is selling the said system as District Dealer with manufactured Company Warranty & Guarantee. Accordingly, Complainant has purchased the UPS System with Model “I TECH 850 DSP and 150 A.H. Battery Model No. PT 15000 with Trolley from OP3 for market price of Rs.19,000/-. The Warranty Card issued for Warranty of Inverter is 2 years and 18 months to Battery from 11.03.2011. From the date of purchase till 05.08.2012, Complainant was using the said UPS with care & precautionary measures as mentioned in the user manual and as directed by the seller without putting overload and by changing distilled water as per the Battery user manual condition. From 25.07.2012, the said UPS back-up time was very less and immediately Complainant approached OP3 and he advised him to change distilled water and to charge the Battery. Complainant has followed the same, but the problem repeated and battery was not charging properly and it was tripping off in every five minutes. It has given harassment to the Complainant’s family and at the same time KEB power cuts started unlimitedly. Again Complainant approached OP3 on 08.08.2012 and explained the problem. At that time, immediately OP3 came with technician to his house and checked the UPS system and advised the Complainant there is charging problem in the Battery and internal problem in the Inverter, hence back-up time is very less and he advised the Complainant to lodge Complaint to Ops 1 & 2 Customer Care Centre Phone No. 1800 419 4040 or 080-39404040. On 13.08.2012, Complainant has lodged the Complaint in phone and he has received the Complaint No. BAN1408120176 and they replied as within 48 hours Company service will be available to the Complainant. Complainant waited more than 48 hours and on 15.09.2012 he has called Customer Care Centre and they have given same reply, but nobody came to attend the complaint and it shows deficiency in service of the Opposite Parties, intentionally Ops are harassing and playing the game without attending the problem of the Complaint. So, complainant has issued legal notice to the Ops on 16.08.2012 by Professional Courier which served personally to all the Respondents. Hence, the present Complaint. Complainant is facing many problems like mental harassment, now the Complainant is having office in his house, there is lot of KEB power cuts and electricity problem in recent days. Because of the negligence & deficiency of service of OP, Complainant has suffered loss in his office work, court filings with computer operations and typing drafts and he is having small kid of aged 10 months and by KEB power cuts, baby is not sleeping properly and regularly crying till morning, it is very painful harassment to the Complainant, all these problems raised because of Ops’ negligence. Hence, Ops 1 to 3 are jointly & severally liable to pay compensation of Rs.80,000/- along with cost of UPS Rs.19,000/- to the Complainant along with interest.
2. After service of notice, Ops 1 & 2 did not appear and they have placed exparte. OP3 has appeared and filed objections contending inter alia as under:
OP3 is carrying on business of sales of various Electronics like UPS, Batteries of all the Companies and Audio Systems etc. Ops 1 & 2 are the manufacturers of Videocon electronic goods and OP3 is the sub-dealer of the said electronic goods. Ops 1 & 2 are having separate Authorized Service Centre. It is advisable fact that OP3 has sold Videocon UPS System to the Complainant and he has issued cash receipt as stated in the Complaint. Ops 1 & 2 are aware as per the conditions of the agreement it is the duty of taking care of sales of UPS System for the service and repair within a period of warranty and after period of sales and to supply the accessories to the customers of Ops 1 & 2 are held responsible. Recently from past one year after the purchase of 200 Systems by OP3 with Ops 1 & 2 were not giving best service, spares & replacement of the said UPS Systems though OP received number of Systems and complaints of repair and sold, battery back-up problems in UPS Systems and nearly 6 Systems are sent to Ops 1 & 2 for service on 20.06.2011. But, till today, the said Systems have not been repaired or replaced. Because of not replacing the new Systems, OP3 has suffered loss of Rs.1,00,000/-. OP3 has informed Ops 1 & 2 personally and in phone for the past one year, but they are not responding properly. As per averments mentioned in the Complaint, OP3 is not responsible for the service or replacement. If Ops 1 & 2 send any replacement Systems, he is bound to give replacement or service, otherwise OP3 is helpless. Hence, the present Complaint filed against him is baseless and there is no deficiency of service on his part. So, Complaint may kindly be dismissed in the interest of justice.
3. So from the averments of the Complaint of the Complainant and version of the OP3, the following points arise for consideration as under:
(i) Whether the Complainant proves that Ops 1 to 3 are negligent and there is deficiency of service on the part of Ops ?
(ii) If point No. (i) is answered in the affirmative, what relief the Complainant is entitled to ?
(iii) What Order ?
4. Our findings to the above points are as under:
(i) Affirmative
(ii) In view of the finding on Point No. (i), Complainant is entitled to refund of Rs.17,480/- being price of UPS & Battery and Rs.2,000/- towards costs of litigation from Ops 1 to 3.
(iii) As per final order for the following reasons.
REASONS
5. So as to prove the case, Complainant has filed his affidavit by way of evidence and produced 6 copies of documents. On the other hand, one Shameer Nakash Bandi has filed affidavit on behalf of OP3, but no documentary evidence is produced on behalf of OP3. We have heard arguments of both the sides. We have gone through oral & documentary evidence of both parties carefully. G.V. Gopal Reddy who being the Complainant has stated in his affidavit that Ops 1 & 2 are the manufacturers of Electronics & Electrical Home appliances, OP3 is dealer and sales store of electronics & electrical home appliances. Ops 1 & 2 are the manufacturers of Videocon Electrical UPS System and they make sale of UPS through dealer like OP3 in open market with warranty & guarantee. On 11.03.2011, he has approached OP3 to purchase UPS System for electricity back-up and enquired about branded UPS and at that time he was advised to purchase Videocon Electrical UPS System and he stated that he was selling as District Dealer with manufacturing Company warranty & guarantee and with confidence he has purchased Videocon UPS System having Model No. I TECH 8509 DSP and 150 AH battery PT 15000 with Trolley for market price of Rs.19,000/-. Warranty Card issued is for 2 years for UPS and 18 months for Battery from the date of purchase. He used the said UPS from the date of purchase till 05.08.2012 with care & precaution as mentioned in the User Manual and as directed by the seller without putting overload and by changing distilled water. From 25.07.2012 the said UPS back-up was very less and he approached OP3 with complaint and he advised him to change the distilled water and to charge the battery and he has followed those instructions, but the same problem repeated. Battery was not charging properly and was tripping off in every five minutes and due to that it was causing harassment to his family and at the same time KEB power cuts started unlimitedly. He again approached OP3 on 08.08.2012 and explained the problem and at that time he came to his house along with technician and got checked the System and that technician told him that there is charging problem in the battery and internal problem to Inverter, so back-up time is less and told him to lodge complaint to Customer Care Centre phone No. 1800 4194040 or 080-3940 4040. On 13.08.2012, he has filed complaint by phone and received Complaint No. BAN1408120176 and got reply stating that within 48 hours their Company service will be available to him. Accordingly, he has waited for more than 48 hours. On 15.09.2012, he has called Customer Care Centre and they gave the same reply, but nobody came to attend his complaint and it shows deficiency of service on the part of Ops and Ops are playing the game without attending his complaint. He got issued legal notices to Ops on 16.08.2012 by Courier and those notices were served personally. He is facing the problem like mental harassment. So, the present Complaint is filed praying to refund cost of UPS Rs.19,000/- with interest and compensation of Rs.1,00,000/- as prayed in the Complaint in the interest of justice.
6. On careful reading the Complaint and evidence of the Complainant as mentioned above, it is made manifest that the Complainant has given evidence in accordance with averments of the Complaint. Let us have a look at the relevant documents of the Complainant so as to know whether the oral evidence of the Complainant is supported by documentary evidence or not. Document No. 1 of the Complainant is the Receipt / Invoice issued by OP3 dtd. 11.03.2011 in the name of the Complainant for having purchased Videocon UPS and Battery for Rs.17,480/-. Document No. 2 is the Warranty Card issued by OP3 giving warranty for the said article. Document No. 3 is the Owner’s Manual giving instructions to the customers to use UPS. Document No. 4 consists of Courier Receipts issued by Professional Courier for having issued notices to Ops 1 to 3. Document No. 5 is the delivery run sheet of courier service showing the receipt of notices to the Ops. Document No. 6 is the copy of legal notice of the Complainant’s Lawyer issued to the Ops dtd. 16.08.2012 informing that there is deficiency of service on the part of the Ops as the UPS back-up is very less and Battery is not charging properly and UPS system is tripping off once in five minutes, so called upon the Ops to pay Rs.1,00,000/- to the Complainant as compensation along with cost of Article within 15 days failing which he will approach Consumer Court for legal remedy. The oral evidence of the Complainant that after purchase of UPS and Battery from OP3 who being dealer of OPs 1 & 2 they started giving him trouble as UPS back-up is low and Battery is not charging properly and in spite of making the complaint, Ops 1 to 3 did not attend the complaint stands corroborated by the Invoice, Warranty Card issued by OP3 and legal notice of the Complainant. Besides, one Shameer Naakash Bandi who being Proprietor of OP3 has stated in his evidence that it is true to say that Complainant has purchased UPS & Battery from his Shop and for the last one year after purchase of 200 Systems by him with OPs 1 & 2, they were not giving best service, spares & replacement of UPS Systems as per the agreement condition though they have received the complaint from the customers. Till today, the said Systems have not been returned or replaced and due to that he has lost Rs.1,00,000/-. He has contacted Ops 1 & 2 number of times personally and through Phone, but they are not responding properly and there is very much deficiency of service on their part. He is not responsible for the service or replacement. If Ops 1 & 2 send any replacement Systems, he is bound to give replacement or service. In fact, the evidence of Complainant stands corroborated by the evidence of OP3 who being dealer of Ops 1 & 2. More over, Ops 1 & 2 have remained absent. The oral & documentary evidence of the Complainant have remained uncontroverted as Ops 1 & 2 have neither denied the case of the Complainant nor cross examined the Complainant. So, making careful scrutiny of oral & documentary evidence of the Complainant, on the background of the non appearance of Ops 1 & 2 and objections & evidence of OP3, we are of the considered opinion that the Complainant who comes to Forum seeking relief has established his case with clear, cogent & consistence material evidence that purchased UPS and Battery from Ops are not working properly, because of low back-up of UPS & Battery is not charging properly and in this regard Complainant has made oral & written requests to Ops to rectify the mistake, his efforts ended in vain. The act of Ops in not attending the problem of the Complainant amounts to negligence & deficiency of service on the part of Ops 1 to 3. Accordingly, we answer this point in the affirmative.
7. In view of affirmative finding on Point No. (i), Complainant is entitled to get back price of UPS and Battery as per the Receipt / Invoice produced by the Complainant. The value of the UPS and Battery is Rs.17,480/- as per the receipt and not Rs.19,000/- as stated in the Complaint. So, Complainant is entitled to claim refund of Rs.17,480/- from Ops 1 to 3 and not Rs.19,000/-. OP1 to 3 are jointly & severally liable to refund Rs.17,480/- to the Complainant along with 9% interest P.A. on the said amount from 11.03.2011 to till the date of realization. Ops 1 to 3 are jointly & severally liable to pay Rs.2,000/- to the Complainant towards costs of litigation and accordingly we answer this point. In the result, for the foregoing reasons, we proceed to pass the following order:
ORDER
The complaint of the complainant is partly allowed.
Ops 1 to 3 are jointly & severally liable to refund Rs.17,480/- to the Complainant along with 9% interest P.A. on the said amount from 11.03.2011 till the date of realization within 30 days from the date of receipt of this order.
Ops 1 to 3 are further jointly & severally directed to pay Rs.2,000/- to the Complainant towards costs of litigation.
Complainant is directed to hand over the UPS & Battery and Trolley to the OPs after receipt of the entire amount from the Ops.
Supply free copy of this order to both the parties.
Dictated to the Stenographer, got it transcribed and corrected, pronounced in the Open forum on this, the 23rd day of March 2013.
H.M. SHIVALINGAPPA J.N. HAVANUR
Member President
