Chikkadpally Chandana Brothers fined Rs. 1L for issuing incomplete invoice

Hyderabad: The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has asked Chandana Brothers Jewellers in Chikkadpally to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lakh for issuing an invoice to a customer without mentioning his name. It has also been asked to pay the customer Rs. 50,000 for failure to refund Rs. 85,000 for old jewelry.

In March 2018, E.K Naga Raja Ram Mohan Rao purchased four gold bangles worth Rs. 1,87,422 by exchanging his old gold ornaments. Chary Working, the showroom in charge, issued the bill mentioning all the details of the transaction.

Mr. Rao alleged that Chary Working had failed to pay Rs. 85,000 for the old jewelry and issued a legal notice to the jewelers to refund the amount with interest. When there was no response from the other party, Mr. Rao approached the consumer commission. The jewelers received notices from the Commission but failed to appear before it and remained 'ex parte'.

After examining the documents and evidence, the Commission observed that the bill did not mention the complainant's name. "The non-mentioning of the name of the complainant in the bill itself is an unfair trade practice committed by the opposite parties…it can easily be presumed that it is the regular practice of the opposite parties in order to cause loss to the government exchequer," observed the Commission.

It further added that the attitude of the jewelers will cause heavy loss to the consumers who approached them with hope and faith in them.

The Commission asked the jewelers to pay Rs. 1,00,000 to the complainant towards punitive damages as per Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 for unfair trade practice and irregularities committed by issuing an unnamed invoice, a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for causing inconvenience and mental agony, and Rs. 5,000 towards the cost of litigation.