Kalpana, a resident of Mandya, went through a lot of mental agony after a 65-inch OLED television set she purchased from a consumer durable store in the town by paying ₹3.49 lakh malfunctioned within a week of its purchase in September 2017.
When the store management and the manufacturer failed to honour the warranty and replace the defective product despite her repeated pleas, she approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mandya, for relief. Eventually, she got justice earlier this month – exactly three years after she purchased the television set, with the manufacturer from Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh not only replacing the malfunctioning television set, but also coughing up a penalty of ₹60,000.
After hearing the complainant, Forum President Ramachandra M.S. and member Vasanthkumara, in an order dated March 21, 2020, directed the opposite parties - store management and the television manufacturer - to deliver a new television set of the same model to the complainant within 60 days of the date of the order failing which they would be liable to pay ₹500 per day from the date of the order till the direction is complied with.
The Forum also directed the opposite parties to pay ₹25,000 towards deficiency of service and ₹5,000 towards mental agony of the complainant within 60 days.
When the directions were not complied with, the complainant moved an execution petition in the Forum. On August 27, 2020, a representative of the opposite party appeared before the Forum and said they were unable to comply with the orders in view of the outbreak of COVID-19 and filed an application seeking exemption from paying ₹500 per day that the Forum had ordered the opposite parties to pay till the orders were complied.
After the Forum waived the ₹500 per day penalty, the opposite parties and the complainant came to an understanding that the latter will withdraw her execution petition after receiving a new television set of the same model, besides ₹60,000 as penalty from the manufacturer.
