Pay up, consumer forum orders servicing firm

A Bandra Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum last week directed a water purifier servicing company to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for mental harassment of a customer as well as partly refund the money she had paid it, for not fulfilling obligations of contract.

The firm had not replaced the filter in the appliance every six months as required by the contract and had refused to send its technician for repair when the contract was still valid.

As per the complaint before the forum of Vile Parle resident Veena Makhijani, she had received a marketing call in 2015 from Agamya Enterprises, also known as Aqua Pure Jal, with its head office in Bhayander, asking if she uses a water purifier and needed servicing. She had taken an annual contract with the firm and had later extended it by three years by paying Rs 3,600 when during the second visit, their technician said they would replace a part costing Rs 1,800 for free if the contract is extended.

In December 2017, when the purifier had stopped working, the firm’s technician said a part needed replacement. Makhijani had paid an amount of Rs 2,865 by cheque for the replacement. He also took the old part along with him. Later, when the replacement arrived, the woman found that the part did not look like a new one. She had then called up the company and asked for her purifier’s original part back. The company told her she would have to pay Rs. 600 to get it back. The company’s technician then came with a part he claimed was the original one belonging to the appliance, but Makhijani felt it did not look like the old one that they had taken away.

She made written complaints and many calls, but they did not yield any response. Thereafter, the company’s technician came with a part that was not the original one, but as she was already inconvenienced with the purifier not working, she allowed him to install the part. But the technician then demanded that she pay Rs 2,865. She refused to pay the amount.

Two months later when the purifier stopped working and she called the company, it refused to send its technician stating that she had not paid charges last time. Makhijani had to get the repair done by another agency for which she spent Rs 1,600. The company did not respond to the notice sent by the forum. Along with ordering to pay compensation, the forum in its judgment asked the firm to return the balance amount of the threeyear contract, pay Rs 1,600 which the complainant had to pay another firm to get the repair done and also pay litigation cost of Rs 2,000.