Odour from purified water costs RO firm dear

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 24

Odour emanating from water purified by a mineral RO machine has cost the manufacturing company dear. The District Consumer Forum has ordered the firm and a city-based distributor to pay around Rs 25,000 to the consumer for the same.

Dhanas resident Vinod Kumar had approached the forum against M/s Kent RO System Limited, Noida, Bharat Distributors, Sector 35, Chandigarh, and Kent RO System Limited, C/o Perfect Electrocare Shop, Butrela, Sector 41, Chandigarh.

As per his complaint, Kumar purchased one Kent Maxx Water Purifier on October 28, 2016, for Rs 7,800 from a Sector 35 shop. Subsequently, he got done all services successfully on December 26, 2016 and March 17, 2017, respectively. However, in the first week of July 2017, the machine encountered some problem and the water started giving a foul smell. Kumar lodged a complaint with Kent Customer Care on July 21, 2017, which was attended to the next day and all the filters were changed.

However, the purifier again encountered similar problems and all filters were cleaned by the company on July 8, 2017 and July 15, 2017. It has been alleged that on again facing similar kind of problems, the customer lodged complaints on July 25, 2017, July 28, 2017, July 29, 2017, September 2, 2017 and September 9, 2017, but his grievance remained unaddressed for one reason for the other.

In its reply, the company pleaded that all complaints were being attended to the satisfaction of the complainant. The spares were also changed whenever required as per warranty terms. It has been urged that after receipt of a notice from the forum, a technician checked the purifier on June 19, 2017, and found the same to be in working order. It thus said there is no deficiency in service or unfair trade practice on their part.

In its order, the forum observed that the act of the opposite parties in selling a sub-standard product to the complainant and later not providing proper services to the complainant and dogging this forum shows that they are deficient in service and are guilty of unfair trade practice, which has certainly caused unprecedented harassment to the complainant.

The forum thus ordered the three parties to refund the cost of the machine (Rs 7,800) to the complainant, along with Rs 10,000 as compensation on account of deficiency in service and causing mental and physical harassment to the complainant. They were also directed to pay Rs 7,000 as cost of litigation.