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After a four-year fight, a Police Inspector has finally received compensation for the mobile handset that was given for repair but was never returned to the owner.
The Dharwd District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ruled in favour of the Police Inspector from Dharwad who gave his mobile handset for repair to a mobile repair shop in Raichur during his visit to the town on official purpose.
The incident dates back to 2019, when Police Inspector Shivanand Arenad visited Raichur in his official capacity as a police officer during which his mobile handset (Samsung S6 Edge) developed some display issue.
The Inspector then approached a mobile and electronic repair shop, Tarun Enterprises, in Raichur on June 28, 2019 and entrusted his handset to the shop owner. The shop owner made an estimation for ₹12,000 for the repair and assured the Inspector of returning the handset in 15 days, after servicing it.
However, the shop owner sought more time for the repair when the inspector, being a resident of Dharwad, contacted him repeatedly over telephone and also approached the shop through his colleagues but to no avail. Subsequently, the shop owner stopped receiving calls and also the Inspector’s colleagues, forcing Mr. Arenad to send a legal notice after two years on June 2, 2021 to which also there was no response.
Finally, the Inspector approached the consumer forum through advocate B.S. Hosakeri seeking relief. On the other hand, the mobile shop owner appearing through his advocate submitted that the complaint was false and fabricated and he had not received any such handset for repair.
After perusing the statements and documents produced before the forum, member of the commission V.A. Bolashetti delivered the order on February 14, 2023, directing Tarun Enterprises in Raichur to return the repaired handset to the complainant on receiving service charge of ₹12,000 within one month and in case of failure to do so, the complainant should be paid ₹25,000 towards the value of the handset plus ₹5,000 as cost of litigation.
But despite the order, there was delay in getting refund. Mr. Arenad received an amount of ₹35,000 only recently.
He told The Hindu that despite being a police officer, he faced hardships in getting justice. He filed the complaint considering the hardships a common man could have faced in such a situation, he added.
