Consumer Court - Firm told to switch faulty plasma TV worth Rs. 7.4L

Firm told to switch faulty plasma TV worth Rs. 7.4L

Having spent Rs7, 40,000 on a Plasma television way back in 2000 the least that Sunil Goenka expected was good video and audio quality. But his Philips plasma TV suddenly switched off even before he could test its picture quality. However, he may finally get value for his money and make TV viewing a pleasurable experience for himself after the additional suburban consumer disputes redressal forum recently ordered Philips to put a new plasma display panel oh his TV and also do any other servicing required before handing over the TV. The company has also been asked to pay a compensation of Rs25,000 apart from Rs5,000 as the cost of the complaint. Goenka filed a complaint in the consumer forum against Philips India Limited; company's Andheri based dealer Sonymoni electronics and its authorised service centre U-Tech. According to Goenka's complaint he had bought the TV in July 2000 on the dealer's assurance that it was of an excellent quality and had terrific picture clarity. However, soon after delivery the TV suddenly switched off and he conveyed the grievance to the company. While the TV was within the warranty period over the next four years he took it for servicing a number of times when finally in September 2004 he got a letter from the service centre saying that the gadget in the TV was faulty and he would have to pay for replacement which he refused to do. Explaining the delay in lodging his complaint and approaching the forum only in August 2005, Goenka said that he was waiting due to repeated assurance of repairing his TV by the company and the service centre. On the other hand Philips claimed in its affidavit that according to the service centre the FTR box became defective due to wear and tear due to its usage. The company also said that the complainant did not have a stamped receipt of purchase and just had a payment voucher to prove he had bought the TV from authorised dealer. They also claimed that he had availed a stand by TV which was still with him. However, the forum set aside their arguments stating that Goenka had given all documentary proofs vis a vis the purchase and the subsequent servicing. President Suman Mahajan and member GL Chavan ordered that the stand by TV be returned after Goenka gets the fully repaired Plasma.