Was a defective product sold to you? Was your confirmed online order cancelled? Were you charged extra for paper bags in stores?

As a Consumer, you have the right to receive adequate information about the quantity, quality, purity, price, potency, and standard of a product, and protection from any market abuses. Yet a large number of consumers remain unaware of their rights. And so, to raise global awareness about consumer rights and needs, 15 March is celebrated as ‘World Consumer Rights Day’ every year.

In light of this, here’s a curated list of eight people who filed consumer rights complaints and won their cases — showing us all the importance of knowing and standing up for our rights.

1. Supriyo Ranjan Mahapatra

In 2015, lawyer Supriyo filed a consumer complaint against Amazon after his confirmed order was cancelled.

When Supriyo found a laptop priced at Rs 190 after a big discount of Rs 23,309, he quickly ordered it. But shortly after, Amazon cancelled his order, leaving him frustrated with their customer service. Determined to resolve the issue, he took legal action. His efforts paid off three years later when he was awarded Rs 45,000 for unfair practices and poor service.

He urges consumers not to give up on issues that they feel strongly about.

“Issuing a legal notice must be the first step, and if the matter does not get resolved, then filing a case with the consumer forum should be the next logical step. Make use of the legislation that is pro-consumers,” he advises.

2. Bhaskar Jadhav

In 2015, Bhaskar Jadhav, from the Mumbai Police, was charged Rs 10 more than the MRP of an ice cream pack under ‘cooling charges’. On asking they justified the billing cost by stating the electricity bill.

“I wondered if they could fool a policeman, they must be doing it with so many of their innocent customers. I wanted to uphold the law, and so I filed the case,” he shares.

He saved the bill containing the GST number along with the ice cream packet as evidence. He then went on to file a complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 — which allows consumers to file complaints with the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (CDRCs) if they are being charged more than the MRP.

In 2020, the District Commissioner Disputes Redressal Forum directed Mumbai-based Shagun Veg Restaurant to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh, pay Rs 10,000 to Bhaskar as compensation for ‘mental torture’, and refund the extra charge of Rs 10.

3. Rohit Patel

Rohit was charged Rs 164 for a bottle of water, which was actually priced at Rs 20. He filed a case against the hotel at the Ahmedabad (Rural) Consumer Disputes Redressal under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

“We were charged 150+ taxes. When I asked the manager, he said the additional charge was a service charge and service tax. I found their arguments ridiculous so I warned them about going to the Consumer Forum,” he recalls.

In 2015, he went to the forum, made an affidavit, filled out a complaint form, and kept his evidence — the bottle and the hotel bill, ready. Once his complaint was approved, a legal notice was sent to the hotel and the proceedings required Rohit to appear in court 28 times!

But Rohit did not give up, and after a five-year-long legal battle, the hotel was asked to refund the overpriced amount and pay Rs 2,500 for harassment charges and Rs 3,000 for other expenses.

4. Vijay Gopal

In 2019, Hyderabad’s Vijay had filed a case against BookMyShow and the multiplex chain PVR for charging Rs 80.12 extra ‘internet handling fee’ under Sections 45, 84 and 85 of the IT Act, besides Section 418 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

“When we see a product and price tag while surfing through our options, the price cannot change drastically for different elements added to the bill by the time they pay money for it,” says Vijay who works at an MNC.

BookMyShow and PVR Cinemas were penalised by a Hyderabad court for levying ‘unfair’ internet handling charges on consumers. They were directed to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation to Vijay along with an additional Rs 1,000 towards litigation costs.

5. Sardool Singh Ghumman

In 2015, Punjab’s Sardool, a professor, was unceremoniously deboarded from the Air India flight in New Delhi, moments before it was to take off to Chandigarh, without citing any particular reason. Left with no option, he travelled to Chandigarh in a taxi spending Rs 5,500 in the process.

Traumatised by the unprofessional and unpleasant experience, he filed a case against Air India at the Consumer Forum of Chandigarh as well as at the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Chandigarh.

Following four years of ligation and inquiry, the Commission ordered the airline to pay Ghumman Rs 1 lakh.

6. Dev Kant

In 2009, Dev along with his wife and two children were travelling by the ‘Amritsar to Delhi’ train when a large group of people without tickets occupied seats in the reserved compartment and sat in the pathways blocking the way to toilets in the coach. The family didn’t have access to the washrooms for at least 90 minutes.

When the railway officials failed to respond to the situation, Dev, who worked as a deputy legal advisor in the Ministry of Law and Justice, filed a complaint against the Railways.

After seven years of legal battle, the court ruled in favour of the complainants and declared a sum of Rs 30,000 as compensation.

7. Dinesh Prasad Raturi

In 2019, Chandigarh’s Dinesh filed a complaint against Bata India for charging Rs 3 extra for the paper bag after he purchased a pair of shoes for Rs 399. Dinesh complained that the bag that bore the store’s name was forced upon him though he had not opted for it.

The Consumer forum slammed Bata for the extra charges and stated that it’s the store’s duty to give environment-friendly free bags to the customers.

The company was directed to not just refund Rs 3 for the bag but also pay litigation charges of Rs 1,000, compensation of Rs 3,000 for causing mental agony by deficiency in services, and deposit Rs 5,000 in the legal aid account of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, UT, Chandigarh.

8. Mriganka Majumder

In 2017, Guwahati’s Mriganka refused to drink Dabur’s Real juice as its carton mentioned the juice is for ‘him’ not ‘her’. It mentioned: “Something that’s good for your child should make him smile”.

The nine-year-old and her father reached out to the Government of India to ensure that companies market their products to be gender-neutral and sought a public apology from the company.

The company denied the allegations of gender discrimination but later agreed to change the packaging to avoid “any such misunderstanding in the future”.

Edited by Pranita Bhat