BENGALURU: Irked by the loss of videos from his only son's wedding, a Bengalurean sued a professional photographer for damages, pointing out that marriage is only a once-in-a-lifetime affair. A consumer court ordered the photographer to pay a compensation of Rs 55,000 to the customer, asking the latter to find solace in the few pictures and videos that had survived.
The case was heard by the Bengaluru Rural and Urban 1st additional district consumer disputes redressal forum in Shantinagar when Dattatraya Bhat, 59, of Gokula Extension in Mathikere had lodged a complaint against Guru Chetan of Pixbricks in NJP Layout.
In 2019, Bhat had approached Chetan, who runs a professional photography and videography agency specialising in weddings, for his son's marriage on April 26, 27 and 28. They signed a contract under which the lensman agreed to cover all the rituals - devara karya, haldi, kashiyatre, sangeet, reception, muhurtham and vadhu pravesha - with stills and videos for a fee of Rs 2.5 lakh and received Rs 1.5 lakh in advance.
But after the wedding, Chetan and his agency only handed over photos and videos pertaining to the reception and muhurtham. Those of devara karya, kashiyatre, sangeet and vadhu pravesha were not given. A disappointed Bhat who had paid nearly Rs 2.3 lakh for the job by then, questioned Pixbricks representatives only to get a response that the laptop in which the footage of the four events was stored had been damaged.
Arguing that marriage was a once-in-a-lifetime affair and saying his relatives who missed the wedding were eagerly waiting for the videos, Bhat questioned Chetan but was told the agency was unable to deliver the remaining videos.
The infuriated father approached the consumer court on March 10, 2020 with a complaint against the agency. While Bhat argued the case on his own, Pixbricks appointed a lawyer who denied all the allegations.
He said due to unavoidable circumstances, one video covering some rituals was unfortunately lost. The same was explained to the complainant and it was agreed upon to give raw footage of the other events free of cost. The lawyer added there was no mention of compensation in the terms and conditions of the contract. Further, Pixbricks offered a waiver of Rs 15,000 from the balance amount they had to receive from Bhat.
After almost 12 months of litigation, the judges held the photography agency guilty of negligence for the loss of videos of the four rituals. In their verdict pronounced on March 6, 2021, they directed Chetan to pay Bhat Rs 50,000 towards the damages, within 30 days of the order, failing which the same will carry an interest from the date of complaint till date of realisation. The court also asked him to pay an additional Rs 5,000 towards Bhat's litigation expenses.