The Hindu : New Delhi News : Mobile shop held guilty of selling defective handset

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 20, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Mobile shop held guilty of selling defective handset

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 19 . This was a brand new Nokia mobile phone that certainly did not connect Kunal Kaul to anybody. With the handset malfunctioning within a week, the screen turned black and then refused to dial. Tired of running around he decided to take Mobile Net, the shop he bought the phone from to consumer court.

A Bench of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum held Mobile Net for deficiency in service for selling Mr. Kaul a defective handset. The Bench ordered the shop to refund Rs. 8,000 -- the cost of the phone -- at 10 per cent interest. The shop was also asked to pay Rs. 1,000 as costs of litigation.

In his case before the Bench, Mr. Kaul submitted that he took the handset to the shop to get it repaired. However, after five days, black spots appeared on the screen again. The keypad of the mobile also stopped functioning for about an hour.

He switched off the phone and then put it on again to find that the key-pad had started working, but the phone had stopped ringing. He claimed that he took the phone back to the shop and was told that the phone was `liquid damaged' . He was then told that the phone required replacement and he would have to pay as the warranty of the phone had become void.

For their part Mobile Net did not turn up despite a registered notice being sent to them. They were proceeded against ex-parte.

After going through the evidence, the Bench presided by G.D. Dhanuka stated that there was no reason to disbelief Mr. Kaul in the absence of a rebuttal.

"The mobile phone became non functional during the warranty period. The handset must have had some manufacturing defect,'' the Bench noted. Therefore holding Mobile Net guilty of deficiency in service and directed it to pay Rs. 8,000 at a 10 per cent interest from the time of the purchase in 2002 till payment. The shop was also further directed to pay Rs. 1,000 as costs.

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