Mobile handset manufacturer Motorola has been ordered by the district
consumer forum to pay a compensation of Rs. 50,000 to a local resident
for deficiency in service and unfair commercial practices.
The Thane
District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum gave its ruling on a consumer
complaint filed against the Gurgaon- based Motorola India Pvt Ltd. The
judgement was given by Forum President Umesh Jhavalikar and member N D
Kadam Saturday.
The complaint was filed by one Ramesh Shah, a
resident of Vasai town in Thane district. Shah purchased a Motorola
handset (Moto Ming - A1200) for Rs. 10,200 from a local dealer, Sanghavi
Infocom, on April 13, 2008.
The next day Shah found the sound in
the handet was feeble. He complained about the same to the dealer, who,
however, insisted there was no fault in the mobile piece.
Later, a service centre of Motorola, Siddhivinayak Tele, attended to the complaint and rectified the fault.
However, Shah's woes did not end as he found more problems with the handset, which was finally replaced.
However, the new handset was also found to be faulty.
Finally, the service centre collected the handset on March 21, 2009 from Shah but never returned it.
The
company could not resolve the problems which regularly cropped up in
the handset, Shah said. Hence, he filed a complaint with the Forum
seeking refund of the handset cost and Rs. 1 lakh towards compensation
and legal expenses.
Motorola, in its submission, offered to replace the handset and wanted the Forum to dismiss the complaint.
In
its order, the Forum made a reference to the same and said the
replacement offer points to deficiency in service and unfair commercial
practices resorted by the company.
Hence, the company needs to compensate the complainant.
The
Forum asked the three respondents to pay a sum of Rs. 60,200 (Rs.
50,000 plus Rs. 10,200 handset cost) to the complainant within a period
of 30 days the order.
