A fine of Rs 45,000 has been imposed on Amazon and a retailer by Delhi’s consumer court for taking as many as 18 months to issue a refund for a faulty laptop.
E-commerce Giant’s Handling of Faulty Product Returns Criticized by Commission
Led by President S S Malhotra along with members Rashmi Bansal and Ravi Kumar, Delhi East District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission pointed out the responsibility of ecommerce giant in ensuring the sale of authentic, defect-free products in a way that issues regarding the faulty items as well as refunds are promptly addressed.
The ecommerce giant was criticized by the court in failing to provide the pink slip promptly, calling it as “unfair trade practice” since the customer has no evidence of the item being collected by the correct individual.
The customer, while hearing, asserted the delay in refund reception constituted “deficiency in service” and thus requested compensation. The complainant further said that Amazon failed to provide any receipt upon the return of the orders.
As per the developments, the commission did not allow Amazon the chance to present the evidence since it submitted the written statement post the statutory period.
The retailer, Appario Retail, did not attend the proceedings and hence the proceeding happened against them in absentia.
Consumer Commission Directs Amazon to Enhance Grievance Redressal Mechanism
The commission noted an email from the December 2021 wherein the Amazon notified the complainant about the pickup not been confirmed despite the fact that customer raised a return request on the very day of receiving the delivery, which was October 29, 2021.
Based on the Amazon’s “Conditions of Use and Conditions of Sale between Seller and Customer”, the commission stated that the e-commerce platform was the principal seller and Appario was its agent.
As per the panel, there is no “foolproof grievance redressal mechanism” with Amazon and there is “nothing on record that shows details of its officers or of the seller”.
Additionally, the ecommerce company was issued a specific directive under which it was asked by the commission to ensure that the company provides receipts for pick up items to the customers.
Amazon has also been directed to display the details of the officers responsible for addressing customer grievances on their website.
