BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES

REDRESSAL FORUM, JALANDHAR.

Complaint No.409 of 2014

Date of Instt. 21.11.2014

Date of Decision :08.06.2015

Ashwani Arora son of Mohal Lal Arora R/o Mohalla Arora Rasta Sultanpur Lodhi District Kapurthala.

..........Complainant Versus

1. Voltas Ltd, Voltas House "A" Block, Dr.Baba Sahed Ambedkar Road, Chinepokli, Mumbai-400033 through its General Manager.

2. Vashisht Enterprises, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, 167 Aman Nagar, Tanda Road, Jalandhar through its Prop./Manager Atul Sharma.

.........Opposite parties

Complaint Under the Consumer Protection Act.

Before: S. Jaspal Singh Bhatia (President)

Ms. Jyotsna Thatai (Member)

Sh.Parminder Sharma (Member)

Present: Sh.VK Nandha Adv., counsel for complainant.

Sh.Saurabh Sharma Adv., counsel for OP No.1.

Sh.Anup Gautam Adv., counsel for OP No.2.

Order

J.S.Bhatia (President)

1. The complainant has filed the present complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, against the opposite parties on the averments that the complainant for self employment opened the business of selling bakery items and gave a name to the said business as New Bobby Care House and for said self employment the complainant purchased a freezer from opposite party No.2 for running the bakery and to preserve various items of bakery, on 24.4.2014. The opposite party No.2 showed various freezer to the complainant and the complainant selected the Voltas Chest Freezer Model No.40SGTQ. At the time of purchase, the opposite party No.2 assured the complainant that the freezer is the best quality and the complainant will not get any problem qua the same. On the assurances given by opposite party No.2, the complainant purchased the aforesaid freezer worth Rs.28,987/- against invoice No.71 dated 24.4.2014 from opposite party No.2. The freezer hardly worked properly for a period of one month and thereafter a defect arose in the freezer as it stopped cooling and the bakery items started getting rottened. The complainant immediately contacted the opposite party No.2 and intimated about the aforesaid defect, who asked the complainant to contact customer care. The complainant even made various calls to customer care on their helpline No.18004254555 and the request of the complainant was also registered at the help line No.14063003500 but to no effect as no one came to check the said freezer and even the opposite party No.2 refused to show any interest to rectify the aforesaid problem in the freezer inspite of repeated request of complainant. The complainant had to arrange substitute freezer by spending huge amount to run his bakery for self employment. Now a period of more than seven months has already elapsed but the opposite parties have not replaced the defected freezer and have been lingering on the matter on one pretext or the other. On such like averments, the complainant has prayed for refund of the price of the freezer i.e Rs.28987/- alongwith interest. He has also claimed compensation and litigation expenses.

2. Upon notice, opposite parties appeared and filed a written reply, inter-alia, pleading that on the complaint of the complainant the engineers of the opposite parties approached the complainant for verifying and checking the alleged problem but the complainant restrained the engineers to enter into his shop. The complainant was adamant that he won't allow the engineers to see whether there is the defect or not, he only wants a new product in replacement of the present one. It is further mentioned that complainant is a wrong doer as such he can not claim the benefit of his own wrong. The complainant has not mentioned any complaint number which might have been provided to the complainant at the time of making call to customer care of the Voltas Limited. They denied other material averments of the complainant.

3. In support of his complaint, learned counsel for the complainant has tendered into evidence affidavit Ex.CA alongwith copies of documents Ex.C1 and evidence of complainant closed by order.

4. On the other hand, learned counsel for opposite parties has tendered affidavit Ex.OPA and closed evidence.

5. We have carefully gone through the record and also heard the learned counsels for the parties and further gone through the written arguments submitted on behalf of complainant.

6. The facts involved in the present care are not much disputed. The complainant purchased the freezer in question from opposite party No.2 on 24.4.2014 vide retail invoice Ex.C1 for Rs.28,987/-. According to the complainant, he has purchased the freezer for self employment for the business of his bakery and it worked properly for a period of about one month and it stopped cooling. Further according to the complainant, he at the instance of opposite party No.2 made complaint to the customer care of opposite party No.1 but no one came to check the freezer and even opposite party No.2 refused to show any interest to rectify the problem in the freezer inspite of repeated request. On the other handset, according to the opposite parties, on the complaint of the complainant, the engineer of opposite parties approached him for verifying and checking the alleged problem but complainant did not allow the engineer to enter into his shop and was adamant on replacement of old freezer with new one. In support of their respective version, both the parties have filed their affidavits. It is in the affidavit Ex.OPA of Sh.Karanvir Singh, Area Service Manager of Voltas Limited that the engineers of opposite parties approached the complainant for verifying and checking the alleged problem but the complainant restrained the engineers to enter into shop and he was adamant that he won't allow to engineers to see whether there is any defect or not and he only wants a new product in replacement. At the time of arguments, learned counsel for the opposite parties stated at bar that they are ready to rectify the defect in the freezer, if any and complainant should be directed to allow the engineers of the opposite parties to visit his shop and check the freezer. During warranty period, the liability of the manufacturer is to repair and rectify the defect and if same is not possible then only replacement is justified.

7. So, in the above circumstances, the present complaint is partly accepted and opposite parties are directed to check and rectify the problem in the freezer in question of the complainant, if any, free of cost and in case same is not possible then to replace the freezer in question of the complainant with new one of the same make and model or to refund its price in the alternative and for that purpose the complainant shall allow the engineers of opposite parties to visit his shop and check the freezer in question. However, the complainant is granted Rs.2000/- on account of litigation expenses. Copies of the order be sent to the parties free of costs under rules. File be consigned to the record room.

Dated Parminder Sharma Jyotsna Thatai Jaspal Singh Bhatia

08.06.2015 Member Member President