Bengaluru: A Bengaluru consumer court has directed Apple India to pay ₹1 lakh to the complainant for the hardship he underwent after buying an iPhone due to unfair trade practice. The person had taken Apple India to the court after his iPhone 13 had purchased developed technical snag that rendered the mobile’s battery and speaker non-functional.
According to the media reports, one Awez Khan had filed the case against Apple India and its customer service centre in Indiranagar, Bengaluru, after they failed to resolve the issues with the iPhone 13. The consumer court asked the tech giant to pay Khan ₹1 Lakh, which includes the price phone and the trouble he had to face by Apple India.
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As per the report, Khan had purchased iPhone 13 in October 2021 with with one-year warranty. However, the speaker and the battery of the device started malfunctioning soon after and Khan deposited the phone at iPlanet Care Centre in Indiranagar. A few days later, an executive of the service centre told Khan that phone to collect the phone, which has been fixed. However, Khan found the issues with the phone unresolved. He asked the service staff to repair the phone properly.
A couple of weeks later, the service staff called him again and said that a glue-like substance was found inside the phone. He alleged that the iPhone was tampered and hence did not fall under the warranty policy, and hence he needs to pay an extra amount to get it fixed.
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Khan later took up the issue with Apple India through the mail. However, the mobile giant did not revert to his complaint. Finding no solution, he decided to file a case against Apple India and sent legal notice to the company, alleging unfair trade practices. He later filed complainant at Bengaluru urban district consumer disputes redressal commission in Shantinagar.
Defending the firm’s stand, Apple India counsel claimed that the complaint lacked facts and called the damage ‘accidental.’ However, the court ordered the company to pay ₹79,999 as compensation with an additional ₹20000 for the hardship caused to the customer.
