Harassed Customer?
Many times we all would have felt that companies providing products /
services are taking customer for ride, and not providing the value for
the worth paid to them. That could include, bad products & not
returning your money, bad services yet refusing refunds / return and
many more such cases.
What we typically do in such cases? Call customer care, write
emails, take it to social media (FB/ twitter post). Many times these
things works! and we get what we wanted (refunds / pending services
etc). But there are still instances where we are denied of what we ...
as consumer .. should get for the amount spent. So if you are facing
this situation ... read on to know your rights (as a consumer), and how
you can take action legally (reaching out to CONSUMER FORUM COURTS !)
First things first, official link which covers section12(1)(c) of the consumer protection Act, 1986
Next, what baffles anyone ... what should I do to file a case. It
should be very tedious, requires a lawyer, costly affair .. etc etc.
Good news is .. all of this is wrong !! One can file a case on their own
(without a lawyer) very easily, and can represent their case in court
too (again, lawyer not needed !).
Filing case in Consumer Forum - steps required!
1) Create one case application using this format.
NOTE
: This format is created for filing case in Bangalore Urban District
Consumer Forum, you will need to use the name as applicable to your
location / jurisdiction.
2) Collect all documents that you want to submit as evidence (like Bill copy, email conversations, phone bills etc etc).
3) Create 4 sets of above material (case application + all evidences). Pin up all case + evidences together (so to get 4 sets !)
4) Get a Demand Draft for ₹ 100, favoring "President, Bangalore Urban Dist. Consumer Forum" (or use what is applicable for your location / jurisdiction).
5) Submit them (4 sets of docs + DD) at the Consumer Forum office.
For Bangalore :
Bangalore Urban Dist. Consumer forum,
Cauvery Bhavan, eight floor, K.G. Road,
Bangalore-560 009.
Ph: +91-80-2211137
For rest of Karnataka, read here.
Once your case documents are submitted, you will be provided with case number and case hearing date (this might take 2 to 3 days, they typically ask you to call them up to get these details). Typically, 1st hearing will be between 10 to 15 days after case submission.
Useful Tips
1) Be objective, and to the point (no dramatics like world has fallen as you are denied by this company). State facts with dates.
2) Asking compensation could be tricky. For any amount (total of refund amount + compensation) more than ₹ 1 Lac, then amount for DD would change (so look for that). Also if amount claimed is more than ₹ 20 lac .. then case goes to higher court (and not district court) .. so be wary of that too.
3) If you have a very strong case & claiming high amount, you may consider talking to lawyer and share compensation benefits with them.
(I wish I have these while filing 1st case .. and by now I have filed 3. Won the 1st one, submitted other 2 yesterday .. thus writing this blog before I forget. I will Update this blog with the result of other 2 cases later!)
Update: I won both the cases I filed while I created this blog post.
Update: I won both the cases I filed while I created this blog post.
DISCLAIMER : I am writing this from my experiences of filing these cases, some details might differ from places to place, so please do not hold me accountable for that :-)
Finally .. do share you experiences (in comments) .. and also let me know if you found t his useful (or suggestions for improvement).
Lets teach these hot-headed-companies that consumers are the kings (and queens) .. and cannot be taken from granted !! Cheers!
