No service for faulty fridge, consumer forum imposes Rs 15,000 fine

CHENNAI: A Chennai resident whose new refrigerator, bought on a monthly instalment, began leaking two weeks after installation has obtained relief from a consumer disputes redressal forum which ordered the manufacturer, service centre and showroom to pay Rs 15,000 as penalty to her. The complainant T Vijayalakshmi of Ponniammanmedu had bought the LG refrigerator for Rs 20,906 on December 5, 2024. In her complaint, she said immediately after installation, water began to leak and all food began to rot. She raised a complaint with the company, its authorised service centre Saakshi Enterprises and Reliance Retail in Perambur where she bought the fridge. The service centre sent an engineer who claimed the normal humidity level for refrigeration should be 70%, but the index was 80% in her house because of which it wasnt working well. He noted down all issues but the problem wasnt solved till date even under the one-year warranty despite multiple follow-ups, she said. The Chennai (North) District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum headed by president D Gopinath perused the records and decided the case ex-parte as the opposite party did not file their written versions. The forum found the warranty card of the fridge had clear messaging regarding the humidity, stating water drops would form on the exterior of the fridge only when the humidity reaches 90%. The service centre did not rectify the defect and left the complainant in the lurch by advising her to use the appliance with soft cloth to clean the water whenever necessary, the forum noted. This confirmed that the appliance had an inherent defect.