The Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently directed Amazon India, selling products online through M/s Amazon Seller Services Private Limited to furnish a foolproof transparent grievance redressal mechanism for customers and display on its website the complete details of the officers dealing with grievances of the customers.
The order was passed by Rashmi Bansal, member of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The Consumer Court also ordered Amazon and M/s Appario Retail Private Limited, Gurgaon to pay a compensation of Rs 35,000 to the complainant for its deficient service and unfair trade practice, which caused mental agony and harassment to the complainant.
It further directed Amazon India to make provisions for handing over the receipt of the pick-up item to the customers in all cases ensuring safe and secure pick-up from its customers. The order came on a complaint filed before District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission by Anil Kumar and Brijesh Kumar, alleging that the e-commerce platform did not provide an adequate effective redressal mechanism to customers. The complainant said that there was a delay of 17 months in processing the refund for a defective laptop sold to him.
After going through the complaint, the District Consumer Forum found that Amazon has been indulging in unfair trade practices and does not provide adequate grievance redressal mechanisms and phone numbers of the concerned persons which leads to deficiency in service. The complainant mentioned that he had purchased a ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop for a sum of Rs 77,990 from Amazon in November 2021 and found that the laptop was defective. Subsequently, he raised a refund request and picked up the laptop from him.
The complaint alleged that though the laptop was picked up by Amazon, no acknowledgment slip was given suggesting that the pick up was completed. It further added that the complainant followed up with the platform on multiple occasions to enquire about the pick up as it was not shown in their website.
Furthermore, the complainant also highlighted that the grievance redressal mechanism of Amazon is very poor and inefficient as the website neither displays contact details of the senior officers nor contact addresses of the head office of Amazon. He noted that Amazon plays a pivotal role in selling, storing, warehouse and logistic support and that the said product is a part of Fulfilled by Amazon service, implying that the product is being stored, packed and dispatched by Amazon.