The National Consumer Commission recently held that a company registered under the Partnership Act cannot be considered as a consumer and dismissed a consumer complaint filed by M/s Navbharat Press. The commission also slapped a fine of `10, 000 on the company for wasting its “precious” time.
The complainant came through an advertisement from M/s Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd, which advertised construction of Sahara City, near Nagpur. The advertisement also described the scheme of Sahara City, as to what kind of facilities and amenities they were to provide.
The complainant then booked an independent bungalow in this upcoming Sahara City Homes. A major portion of the payment was made, but the respondent did not construct the house within the prescribed period.
On June, 24, 2013 Navbharat Press approached the National Consumer Commission seeking direction to refund an amount of `1,56,96,032 from the opponent with an interest rate of 18 per cent from the date of last payment to the complainant.
“How can a partnership firm be called a consumer? The complainant is not a ‘consumer’. Therefore, we dismiss the complaint. Filing this complaint is a sheer waste of our time. We impose punitive costs in the sum of `10,000, which is to be paid to the PM’s Relief Fund, towards the Uttarakhand tragedy, within 60 days,” ordered the commission.