Shop, Sony India fined for unfair trade practice
Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 4
In a unique order, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, has directed Modern AKM Electronics Private Limited and Sony India Limited to pay Rs5,000 compensation to a consumer for causing mental agony and harassment and compelling him to purchase their new product by offering 20 per cent discount in exchange with an old and damaged one. The firms have also been directed to pay Rs3,000 as costs of litigation.
Parminder Singh Sekhon, a resident of Nayagaon, approached the commission alleging that the opposite parties – Modern AKM Electronics Private Limited and Sony India – had failed to fix the problem in a play station 4 500GB.
Parminder said he purchased the product from Modern AKM Electronics Private Limited after paying a sum of Rs29,000. It carried a warranty of one year from the date of purchase.
In April 2019, he noticed that there was some issue with the product. He visited the shop to get it fixed, but they could not rectify the problem. He was informed that the product had some dents on the corner. Therefore, it was the complainant-induced damage, thus not covered under the warranty. Instead of getting it repaired, the shop owner offered the complainant to purchase a new product with 20 per cent discount on the MRP.
The complainant claimed that the defect was covered under the warranty and the dents were caused due to its frequent use.
Terming the acts of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice, the complainant prayed for direction to the OPs to provide him a new generation latest play station, pay compensation of Rs1 lakh along with interest and litigation expenses.
The opposite parties, however, denied the allegations. They claimed that the dent was caused due to mishandling of the product by the complainant. They gave him an offer to replace the said play station with a new one at a discounted price of 20 per cent on the MRP, which was not acceptable to the complainant.
After hearings the arguments, the court observed that compelling the complainant to purchase a new product by offering 20 per cent discount on exchange with the damaged one definitely constitutes unfair trade practice on part of the opposite parties. They should have straightaway assessed the value of the damage and then, after taking the consent of the complainant, ought to have repaired it on a chargeable basis as the damage was not covered under the warranty.
If the complainant wishes to get it repaired, he should handover the damaged play station to the opposite parties, who will quantify the estimate for repair and apprise him of it. If the complainant opts for such repair, the opposite parties should do the needful within a fortnight and pay a compensation of Rs5,000 to the complainant for mental agony and harassment for compelling him to purchase their new product by offering 20 per cent discount in exchange with the old and damaged product.
