A consumer forum here has ordered a company supplying water purifiers to replace its RO plant, which stopped working within 7 months of installation, at the Central Ordnance Depot in Mumbai or provide a refund. The Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in suburban Bandra also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the company, & said it should have taken note of fact that its consumers were personnel of the Indian Army, & provision of clean & safe drinking water for them is the “basic human right”.
The Kandivali-based Central Ordnance Depot in its complaint to the forum said the company, Mint Technologies Private Limited, approached them in May 2018 offering installation of an RO plant for purification of water. The firm convinced them that the RO plant is useful for purification of potable water, & is healthy & suitable for the 300 jawans staying at the depot.
As per the complaint, the service provider had also given a 1-year warranty from the date of installation. Accordingly, an RO Plant was installed at the ordnance depot at a cost of Rs 3,03,050. It became fully operational in Oct 2018, but stopped functioning within 7 months, the complaint said.
As the problem was not fixed even after repeated reminders, the ordnance depot approached the consumer forum. The service provider told the forum that the RO plant was non-functional due to a faulty membrane & it didn't fall under the warranty cover.
After hearing both the sides, the forum in its order earlier this week held the company guilty of deficiency in service. The forum said the fact that the RO plant stopped doing its main job within just 7 months of installation definitely raises a doubt about the quality of the product.
It said that the service provider should have taken cognisance of the fact that its consumers are personnel of the Indian Army, & provision of clean & safe drinking water to them is the “basic human right”.
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