Eureka Forbes asked to pay Rs 31,900 to Hyderabad resident for selling faulty vacuum cleaner

Hyderabad: District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ranga Reddy has recently asked Eureka Forbes to refund Rs 31,900 along with six percent interest to Dr GV Narasimha Rao for selling a faulty vacuum cleaner.

Dr GV Narasimha Rao, a resident of Hyderabad, paid Rs 31,900 to Eureka Forbes Limited for a voice-activated vacuum cleaner. It ceased to function three months after it was first used on September 3, 2022. On November 24, 2022, Rao promptly filed a complaint with Eureka Forbes, but no one responded.

Case details

Narasimha Rao, a 72-year-old man received a kidney transplant some time ago. His 65-year-old spouse underwent total knee replacement (TKR) surgery a year ago. They chose to purchase a voice-activated vacuum cleaner from Eureka Forbes for Rs 31,999, but it stopped working after just three months. Eureka Forbes sold a defective voice-activated vacuum cleaner that caused mental agony, inconvenience, hardship, and financial strain.

With this, the elderly man knocked on the doors of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ranga Reddy, for justice. The court ordered Eureka Forbes to refund the total amount of Rs 31,900 along with six percent interest per annum from the date of complaint (February 1, 2023) till realization. It also ordered Narasimha Rao to return the vacuum cleaner immediately after receiving the above amount from Eureka Forbes.

Eureka Forbes deploys four mechanics

The court further directed Eureka Forbes to pay compensation of Rs 3,000, along with costs of Rs 2,000 to Narasimha Rao to cover the litigation costs within 45 days of the receipt of the order. After repeated complaints from Narasimha Rao on various occasions, Eureka Forbes deputed three mechanics–Mallesh, Suresh, Shankar, and mechanic trainer Anil, who were unable to rectify the defects.

The mechanic even informed Narasimha Rao that it was impossible to rectify the defects as there was a manufacturing defect in the vacuum cleaner and promised to bring out the facts of the manufacturing defects and replace them with a new one. Eureka Forbes neither turned up nor replaced the vacuum cleaner with a new one, even after repeated emails to the customer care email and the said vacuum cleaner was idle from November 23, 2022.

Eureka Forbes is well aware of the complaint

In response to the email by Narasimha Rao, Eureka Forbes returned on December 17, 2022, stating “We have found complaint CM-091222-4373820” registered on December 9, 2022, is still in progress. We have raised your concern with our respective team. Your new ticket number is Task No-1994619-2022-17-12.” It is evident from the email communication that Eureka Forbes is well aware of the complaint raised and was unable to resolve the issue which amounts to a deficiency in service.

Eureka Forbes failed to respond to the notice

Eureka Forbes had received the notice and failed to file a written version within a stipulated time of 45 days. The court noted that with no other option except to believe the version of Narasimha Rao as the Eureka Forbes remained absent till the completion of the proceedings. Therefore, in the given facts and circumstances, Eureka Forbes is not allowed to retain the hard-earned money of Narasimha Rao which was paid towards advance payment for hiring a rental car.

As there is no rebuttal evidence against the allegations of Narasimha Rao, the court further noted that non-refunding of the amount paid by Narasimha Rao certainly amounts to deficiency in service on the part of Eureka Forbes and thereby directed to refund the amount of Rs 31,990 paid by the elderly man along with compensation and litigation costs to him.