Spice Mobiles asked to pay Rs 15,000 for defective handset

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A consumer forum here has asked Spice Mobiles Ltd to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation to a man for selling him a "defective" handset and directed it to either replace the set or refund its cost.
The South West District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum noted in its order that the mobile had stopped working within 11 days and even the authorised service centre of Spice, Hot Spot, could not rectify the problem.
"It stands established from documents proved on record by complainant (customer) that the handset purchased by him was found dead within 11 days of purchase. The mobile manufactured by opposite party 3 (Spice) was found dead on January 12, 2010 and was returned by their service centre, opposite party 2 (Hot Spot) being beyond repair.

"Thus, we find all the three opposite parties (Spice, its retail shop and Hot Spot) guilty of deficiency-in-service. We direct them to jointly and severally, either replace the handset or to refund Rs 3,000 (its cost) subject to handing back the defective handset," a bench presided by Narendra Kumar said.
The forum also directed them to "jointly and severally" pay Rs 15,000 as compensation to complainant Ombir Singh.
Singh had alleged that the Spice mobile phone purchased by him for Rs 3,000 in 2010 stopped functioning and became dead within 11 days.

He took it to the service centre, Hot Spot, which could not repair the handset, Singh said, adding that even though the warranty period was not over, the phone was not replaced.

Spice had countered Singh's allegation saying he had gone to the service centre after the warranty period had expired and the phone was damaged due to mishandling by him.
The forum, however, rejected their contention saying the receipt issued by its service centre proved that Singh took the mobile for repair during the warranty period.