The Burnt Motor and the Voltage Defence
In February, Rupa Bhattacharya, a schoolteacher in Siliguri, bought a 7 kg fully automatic washing machine for ₹38,000 from an authorised dealer. The two-year warranty card lists 'damage from voltage fluctuation' as an exclusion but says nothing about installation or stabilisers. The machine failed in July; the service centre's written report says the motor winding burnt 'due to voltage fluctuation' but gives no test readings, and the dealer offered a paid repair of ₹9,400. The machine was installed by the dealer's own technician, for which Rupa paid ₹800 and holds a receipt. A newspaper advertisement for the model promised a 'five-year warranty on motor'. She wants a replacement, ₹20,000 for the days she paid a laundry, and compensation for six visits and three lost leave days. The dealer says she must first accept the service centre's report and that her complaint is 'premature'.
1. Is Rupa a 'consumer'? Identify the consumer rights engaged and the reliefs a Consumer Commission can order on these facts.
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Yes, she is a consumer. She bought goods for consideration and used them for personal, non-commercial purposes, and she holds the bill. The dealer's 'premature' objection does not touch her status.
Rights engaged:
- Right to safety - a motor burning within five months of installation by the dealer's own technician.
- Right to be informed - if a stabiliser or a particular voltage condition was required, the dealer had a duty to say so at the point of sale; the warranty card is silent on installation.
- Right to be heard and to seek redressal - the service centre's report is not a final verdict binding on her.
The advertisement promising a five-year motor warranty, contradicted by a two-year card, is a representation the manufacturer must honour and may amount to a misleading advertisement/unfair trade practice.
Reliefs available: removal of the defect, replacement of the goods, refund of the price, compensation for loss or injury suffered, and the cost of the proceedings. The ₹9,400 repair is recoverable if she paid it to mitigate the loss. The ₹20,000 laundry claim and the lost leave days are claimable only if she proves they flowed from the defect - laundry bills, leave records and the technician's receipt should be attached, because a Commission will not award a round figure that is not evidenced.
2. Where and within what time should she file, and how should the 'voltage fluctuation' defence and the 'premature' objection be dealt with?
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Forum and limitation. A claim of ₹38,000 plus compensation is well within the ₹50 lakh pecuniary limit of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, and the complaint lies at Siliguri, where the dealer has its office and where the cause of action arose. She must file within two years of the cause of action - the failure in July or the refusal to replace - so the clock is already running. Filing can be done online through e-Daakhil or in person, on payment of a nominal fee; she does not need a lawyer.
The voltage defence. A bare assertion in a service report, with no voltage readings, meter logs or test data, is an opinion rather than proof. The burden of showing that the damage falls within the exclusion rests on the party relying on it. She should refuse to treat the report as final, obtain an independent technician's opinion, and rely on two facts: installation was done by the dealer's technician, and the advertisement promised a five-year motor warranty. An exclusion clause is construed strictly against the party who drafted it.
'Premature'. Consumer fora are an additional remedy, not an alternative one; there is no rule that the company's internal grievance route must be exhausted first. The Commission may, if both sides agree, refer the matter to mediation. Waiting, however, risks the two-year limitation and loses evidence.