Mobile phone maker ordered to compensate city resident

Coimbatore: The Coimbatore consumer court has directed mobile phone manufacturer Micromax and its dealer to pay compensation to a Race Course resident for selling a defective phone five years ago.
Petitioner SK Ravi Kumar, a member of NGO Coimbatore Consumer Cause, had purchased a Micromax A72 in September, 2013. “The phone was not functioning from day one and the petitioner received no assistance despite approaching the dealer, service center and manufacturer several times. He approached the court in 2014,” said an authority from the court.

The petitioner has sought refund amount along with an interest of 24% per annum from the date of purchase and Rs 50,000 for causing mental agony. During the course of hearing, it became clear that the company had sold a defective phone and failed to repair it or replace it.

A three-member bench of the court headed by AP Balachandran, president, directed the firm to refund Rs 6,800 along with the interest of six per cent per annum from the date of purchase. He further directed the firm to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for the deficiency in service, mental agony and sufferings along with the interest of nine per cent per annum. Further, Rs 3,000 should be paid to the petitioner to cover the cost of proceedings. The compensation amount should be paid within two months.

Five years are too long to dispose a consumer case, said K Kathirmoathiyon of the Coimbatore Consumer Cause, who was also a petitioner in the case.

“This is a rare one as most of the cases get disposed within one to one-and-half years. The president’s post had remained vacant for some time. Also, the other side did not appear for some hearings,” he said, attributing them as the main reasons for the delay.

Pinpointing that the president of the court have been hearing cases in Tirupur and the Nilgiris as well, Kathirmoathiyon said that if only the government could provide the needed manpower and infrastructure, a lot of cases could be disposed of quickly.