UT consumer courts are aggrieved mobile phone buyers’ last resort

In addition,president of the Forum P D Goel and Members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota also directed the opposite parties to pay Rs 5,000 to Divyajyoti for the harassment caused to her,and Rs 2,500 as cost of litigation. Divyajyoti had told the Forum in her complaint that the phone suffered from hardware and software problems,and delivered complications soon.

However,the problems were not resolved to her satisfaction. The order was issued ex parte by the Forum since no representative from the opposite parties contested the case in the court.

In another case,Gopal Sharma of Sector 12 in Panchkula found relief through Chandigarh Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II. Sharma had purchased a mobile phone for Rs 4,900 from a store in Sector 11,Panchkula,in October 2010. It started giving problems a month after purchase. Despite claims by the seller that the phone had been rectified,the problems continued. Sharma finally filed a complaint in the Forum. The order was issued ex-parte.

In the order,Presiding Member of the Forum Madhu Mutneja and Member Jaswinder Singh Sidhu directed the manufacturer and the store-owner to replace the defective handset with a new handset of the same make and model. If this was not possible,the opposite parties were directed to refund Rs 4,900 to the complainant,along with Rs 3,000 as compensation for harassment and litigation costs.

Vikram Ram,a resident of Dadu Majra Colony complained to UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II that he purchased a mobile phone from a store in Sector 22 for Rs 4,400. The touch screen of the phone stopped working after a few days. The phone was given at the service centre of the company for repair,but was not returned to Vikram. After his repeated requests to the service centre to repair and return his phone failed,Vikram filed a case in the Forum.

In its order,the Forum directed the manufacturer,the trader and the service centre to refund Rs 4,400 to the buyer,pay him Rs 1,000 as compensation for the harassment caused to him,and Rs 7,000 as cost of litigation.

In yet another case,Baljit Singh of Desu Majra village near Kharar complained to UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II that in September 2009,he purchased a phone from a store in Sector 22 for Rs 8,008.

The phone was under warranty for one year,but developed problems two months after purchase.

Baljit gave the phone to the service centre of the company for repair but the problem was not resolved. Finally he approached the Forum for justice.

In this case too,the opposite parties were served notice by the Forum but did not appear in the court. The Forum studied the case closely based on the bills produced by Baljit in support of his claims.

Delivering an ex-parte order regarding the case,President of the Forum Lakshman Sharma and Members Madhu Mutneja and Jaswinder Singh Sidhu directed the opposite parties to refund Rs 8,008 to the complainant as the price of the phone,give him Rs 2,000 as compensation for the harassment caused to him,and Rs 7,000 as cost of litigation.