A district consumer forum in Hyderabad has ordered e-commerce site Flipkart to pay a compensation of Rs 15,000 to a customer for selling a faulty mobile phone charger to him.
The Times of India reports that Dr Ahmed AQ Irfani, the petitioner, had bought a mobile charger for Rs 259 on Flipkart in January 2016.
On the very first use of the charger, the wires in the phone got burnt and damaged the device.
Ahmed said that Flipkart refused to compensate for the damage to his phone. "When I complained to Flipkart, they offered to replace the faulty charger, but declined to compensate for the damage caused to my phone. They suggested that the device could have been damaged because of the surge in power," he told the forum.
He also stated that it was mentioned on the charger that it could take fluctuations between 100 volts and 240 volts.
After Flipkart refused to pay compensation, Ahmed filed a petition seeking the same.
Meanwhile, the e-commerce site maintained that Ahmed's phone could have been damaged due to power fluctuations. It also said that it was just an intermediary between buyers and sellers and did not have any control over product quality, the ToI report states.
The consumer forum however gave a verdict in favour of Ahmed stating "Flipkart cannot shirk their liability on the grounds that they did not charge any consideration from the complainant. The complainant purchased the product through Flipkart and therefore there exists a relationship of a consumer and the service provider between the two."
"When the battery charger had a wide range of 110 volts to 240 volts, it is not probable that the power surge would have damaged the mobile phone. In such facts and circumstances of the case, the complainant is entitled not only for the refund of the amount paid for the charger but to a reasonable compensation," it added.
E-commerce websites offering products and services have the second highest share of consumer grievances in the country.
In 2015, Flipkart was directed to pay Rs 5,500 as compensation to a customer in Chandigarh for cancelling his order without informing him first.