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UI ordered two lehengas from a well-known Indian brand and was assured they’d be ready for pickup in Delhi on Nov 22-23. Based on this, I flew from Thailand solely for this purpose, paying for flights and accommodation.
When I arrived, the lehengas weren’t ready. The brand then promised free international shipping to Thailand with all customs fees covered. I have this in writing and have proof of them committing to this. When they shipped, they falsely declared the lehengas as “gifts” with undervalued invoices without informing me. This led to customs seizure in Thailand, and I had to pay INR 1,09,320 to release them. Now, they refuse to reimburse the full amount.
Given the financial loss (flights, hotels, mental distress), should I take this to Indian Consumer Court?
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UDo you know who are the top lawyers specializing in Consumer Court suits? Also approximately how much will it cost?
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ADiscuss this with a lawyer because it might cost u time and money. With you travelling for each hearing may not be possible
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RYou can file a complaint through a power of attorney. However, the power of attorney holder will have to be someone who isn’t acting as your lawyer in court since that’s a conflict of interest and not permissible. If you have a friend or relative, you can execute a power of attorney in their favour. Once that’s done you won’t even need to execute affidavits, but it’s advisable to execute the initial affidavit in support of the complaint yourself, and for any subsequent requirement the power of attorney can sign or execute on your behalf.
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UYes your case falls under deficiency of service (as the brand didn’t provide the lehengas on designated time) and you had to incur extra expenses, even after that they engaged in an unfair trade practice leading to your loss. So you have the remedy to approach the consumer court so you definitely can seek the remedy, however you can simultaneously also file a FIR as the brand has committed some cognisable offences.
Practically speaking you should hire a lawyer and send a legal notice, usually these kinds of matters are settled especially the brands are concerned about their reputation.
Just send a legal notice and ask your lawyer to advise them to settle.
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LFile a consumer case. It might take sometime, but you’d definitely win. It’s a different thing getting your court order executed for recovery.
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HDid they specifically ask you to travel or know that you were travelling to India to collect your lehenga on Nov 22-23? This would generally be considered remote damages and not be awarded by Courts, as it is not directly linked to the product / services being provided. That is unless they were aware you would come to India to collect it based on their representation. Frankly speaking, this would be a hard claim to pursue, but consult your lawyer with all correspondences and documents; maybe you have a strong case.
Regarding customs charges, did you have to pay extra because they undervalued the goods or for demurrage / detention charges? Even this claim is not a very straightforward one. It will depend on the exact nature of charges levied by the customs department. This claim can go in either party’s favour depending on the documents.
Consumer Court is a good forum to pursue your claims and generally favours the consumer, but find yourself a good lawyer who will genuinely advise you about your chances of success based on the documents you have. The reason I am being more skeptical here is because you do not reside in India and will have to spend more resources to pursue this legally.
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RBad advice. The remoteness of damages would be more relevant in ordinary civil suits. The Consumer Protection Act provides a statutory remedy that isn’t strictly bound by principles of tort like any other civil claim concerning an uncodified civil wrong or tort. This wouldn’t be a hard claim to pursue at all. Maybe the flight tickets or hotel for 22-23 would be a little difficult, but the rest would be very easy to recover. And i think the amount OP is likely to receive will be significant enough to pursue. The only question is if OP is willing to invest time since even consumer courts take a while to actually grant relief.
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HAs I have said, it depends on the evidence how the case will actually go. However, remoteness of damage is not something limited to civil suits, and equally applies in cases under consumer protection act. It’s not about being a principle of tort. It’s part of the law on damages as declared by the Supreme Court through various judgments. It is binding in terms of Article 141 of the Constitution on all courts.
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UI am going through something similar. Based in Dubai and purchased 2 jewellery sets in Delhi and got it delivered to my parents address in Bangalore. The main jewellery set got delivered damaged, and the other set which was customised was not as per the specifications I shared. I received it damaged 3 days before leaving for my wedding leaving me with no time to get it fixed. And the other set, I never accepted it because it was not what i wanted and they never returned my advance.
I sent the brand a legal notice, but they ignored it. I got my lawyer to speak with them and they seem to be ignoring her as well. I am now going ahead and filing a case against them this week.
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