Buying goods and services is an inevitable part of our daily lives and problems might occur from the vendors who deliver these goods and services. Below are the top 10 consumer court cases curated for the readers:
Top 10 Consumer Court Cases and Trials in India
1. Dipika Pallikal, a squash champion, and an Arjuna awardee found used her Axis Bank Debit Card in a hotel at Netherlands’ Rotterdam which failed. She had 10 times the bill amount in her account at that time. The bank said the incident was a case of ‘Force Majeure’ (an act of God/ something beyond the control) and returned a cheque of ₹1 lakh issued to her by the government of. Dipika approached the consumer court in Chennai against Axis Bank
Court judgment:
The court found that there was a deficiency of service on the part of the Axis Bank and directed the bank to pay a compensation of ₹5 lakh and ₹5000 as expenses.
2. Poonam Verma v Ashwin Patel & Ors: In this case, the respondent who is a homeopathic doctor, prescribed allopathic medicines for the treatment of a patient who did not respond to the medicine well and subsequently died. Based on the fact that the respondent was qualified and registered to practice under Homeopathy only,
Court judgment:
It was found to be in violation of the statutory duty not to practice Allopathy under section 15(3) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. Respondent’s act was held to be actionable negligence was ordered to pay a compensation of three lakhs.
3. A tea vendor, Rajesh Sakre, is an example of this who had ₹20,000 in his State Bank of India account and he withdrew ₹10,800. On his next visit to the ATM, he realized all his money was gone. When he asked the bank authorities they blamed it on him for the fault.
So, he went to the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum with his grievance and as he couldn’t afford a lawyer he argued the case himself.
Court Judgement:
The forum ruled in his favor and ordered the State Bank of India to return the ₹9,200 with 6% interest also to pay ₹10,000 as compensation for mental anguish and ₹2,000 for the legal expenses.
4. Baglekar Akash Kumar who was a 19-year-old got a book online and when it was delivered, he noticed that there was no MRP printed on it. He browsed the internet and saw that the book was sold at different prices at different places after which he went to the consumer forum and filed a case against Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd and the paper company.
Court Judgement:
The court held non-publishing MRP on the product without a valid reason is ‘unfair trade practice’. MRP ensures that a consumer is not overcharged for the product. So, it is mandatory for companies to print MRP and the publishers were asked to print the retail price on the book Akash was awarded ₹10,000 as compensation and ₹2,500 as costs.
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5. Mr. Kondaiah from Andhra Pradesh noticed that Sarvi Food Court charged him ₹40 for a water bottle where the MRP was actually ₹20. He filed his case against them in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum for ‘unfair trade practice’. He supported his claim by producing the bill of the bottle.
Court Judgement:
The court decided in favor of Mr. Kondaiah and said that the practice is unjustified and Mr. Kondaiah was paid a compensation of ₹20,000, ₹20, and ₹5,000 for the costs.
6. Rajesh Rajan from Ahmedabad bought a Pepsi from a local store and found a gutka floating in it. He sent a legal notice to the Pepsi company immediately and approached a Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and demanded compensation of ₹5 lakh for the same.
Court Decision
The consumer forum passed an order in favor of Rajesh Rajan and directed the company to pay a total of ₹4008 which on being low was later paid ₹20,000 as compensation and ₹2000 towards costs.
7. In the year 2015, K Chaathu complained against Indulekha (beauty product manufacturers) and Mammootty (an actor who was the brand ambassador of the company) for displaying misleading ads. The ads claimed that people using the soap will become ‘fair’ and ‘beautiful but the 67-year-old didn’t become fair or beautiful.
Court Judgement:
Indulekha paid Chaathu ₹30,000 in an out-of-the-court settlement while the initial claim of Chaathu was ₹50,000.
8. A person bought a house after researching and pooling hard-earned money and paid to the developer who promised to deliver within 42 months but even after 4 years the construction wasn’t started. So the two people decided to move the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) for it.
Court judgment:
The real estate developer was asked to refund the money with a simple interest of 9% per annum. They were awarded a compensation of ₹50,000 each.
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9. 10 iPhone 5S Gold for ₹68 + ₹10,000 LIn 2014, Nikhil Bansal (a student) saw this unbelievable offer on the Snapdeal on iPhone which was quoted for Rs68000 (a discount of ₹46,651) and ordered it immediately. Upon receiving an order confirmation later the order was canceled stating it to be a technical glitch.
Court Judgement:
The court ruled in his favor and asked Snapdeal to deliver him the iPhone for ₹68 and asked to pay a compensation of ₹2,000 and when Snapdeal appealed this order, the compensation got raised to ₹10,000.
10. Om Prakash’s truck was stolen, and he filed a claim for compensation. The truck was taken on March 23, 2010, the police report was submitted on March 24, 2010, and the insurance claim was filed on March 31, 2010.
The insurance investigator was dispatched to verify the authenticity. The claim for Rs. 7,85,000/- was approved, however the money was never provided to Om Prakash. When he inquired about it, the insurance company responded that there had been a breach of terms and conditions:
“immediate notification of the vehicle’s loss or theft to the insurer”
Court Judgement:
While the consumer courts rejected his claim, the Supreme Court ruled in his favour. It was decided that insurance companies cannot avoid paying claimants if they have a valid justification for doing so, and the company was ordered to pay the Appellant a payment of Rs. 8,35,000/- plus interest at 8% per annum, as well as a compensation of Rs. 50,000.
These were a few cases to educate us to get rid away of the hesitation of approaching the court for a wrongful act and avail for our right as informed consumers.
