Ludhiana: Consumer panel tells Apple India, seller to repair iPhone free of cost, pay owner ₹5k

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Apple India Private Limited and its seller, which allegedly refused to repair an under-warranty iPhone, to pay a compensation of ₹5,000 to the complainant as well as repair the defective iPhone free of cost.

The commission headed by its president Sanjeev Batra and members Jaswinder Singh and Monika Bhagat ruled in favour of the complainant and ordered Apple India Private Limited and the seller, SK Enterprises, Dugri, to pay the compensation.

According to the complaint filed by Satwinder Singh before the commission, he purchased the iPhone for ₹59,900 on February 26, 2021, with a warranty period of one year.

However, a defect in the mic of the phone surfaced just one month after the purchase. Singh took the phone to an authorised service centre for repair, but they sent it to the head service centre of Apple India Private Limited in Bengaluru for replacement.

After waiting for 15 days for the replacement, Singh was informed by the dealing person that the phone had been received back from the head office with a remark that it had been tampered with or modified without authorisation, rendering it ineligible for free repair under warranty. Singh claimed that he was not informed of this when he submitted the phone for repair.

In response, Apple India claimed that this has been written in their warranty contract that phone that has been tampered with will not be liable for warranty services.