The Chandigarh police issued notice to Flipkart to provide all details about the product as well as the courier boy, so that a legal action could be taken, followed by reminders. (File Photo) The Chandigarh Consumer Commission has directed an online company, Flipkart Internet Private Limited, to pay Rs 25,000 to a Chandigarh resident for delivering him a broken mobile phone in place of a bluetooth speaker ordered by him.
Rajiv Sharma, 50, in his complaint to the commission said that he booked a JBL Pulse 3 Portable IPx7 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker online from Flipkart. On March 3, 2018, the delivery boy from Flipkart delivered the packet, but upon opening it, he was shocked to see that it contained a broken mobile phone instead of the speaker.
When he tried to approach the delivery boy, he ran away from the spot. Sharma lodged a complaint with the Chandigarh Police and also sent a copy to Flipkart.
The Chandigarh police issued notice to Flipkart to provide all details about the product as well as the courier boy, so that a legal action could be taken, followed by reminders.
When the firm failed to deliver the speaker, Sharma registered an FIR on May 7, 2018 against them under Section 420 of the IPC at PS Sector 26. Through the police, Cyber Crime Investigation Cell issued a notice to the firm but they neither refunded the amount nor redressed the grievance of the complainant despite his repeated requests, following which he moved to Consumer Commission, Chandigarh.
Flipkart in its reply said that the role/involvement of their company is of an intermediary, providing a marketplace to the sellers and buyers and facilitating the transactions for various goods.
They do not directly or indirectly sell any product on the platform and they are all sold by third party sellers, on terms decided by the respective sellers. It was stated that they escalated the grievance of the complainant to the seller, however, the delivery of the correct product to the recipient of the order was confirmed by the seller.
The commission after hearing the matter held, “the complainant was delivered a broken mobile handset instead of booked items… therefore, the complainant has got a right to seek refund of the price. Such behavior and practice is not expected from a company which is selling its product online. In other words, we can say that this act and conduct of the company falls under unfair trade practice and deficiency in service because it sells or sends the wrong item than one purchased even after paying the full price.”
The commission has directed Flipkart to refund Rs 14,500 to the complainant, and pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 along with Rs 5,500 as cost of litigation.
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