Kerala Consumer Court: Lift Company Ordered to Refund Retired Judge

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) at Ernakulam recently directed Nibav Lifts to refund ₹2.69 lakh with interest to a retired Kerala High Court judge and his wife after finding deficiency in services and unfair trade practice in connection with the proposed installation of a home elevator [Justice (Retd) TR Ramachandran Nair & anr v Nibav Lifts Private Ltd & anr].A Bench of President DB Binu along with members V Ramachandran and Sreevidhia TN found that the company had failed to properly analyse whether the lift could be installed at the couple's residence before accepting the advance payment.The commission stressed that consumers cannot be expected to have the technical knowledge required to understand the consequences of installing such equipment and added that the responsibility was on the company, which had the necessary technical expertise to properly examine the site and explain the implications of the installation."From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the opposite parties had not exercised proper attention; care etc. while entering into the agreement of installation of the lift at the house of the complainants or they ought not have made proper and adequate assessment of the feasibility of installing the lift in the house of the complainant. The complainants need not be technically skill enough to evaluate the consequences of installing the machine even before it is being installed," the commi