In a ruling by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Chandigarh, Amazon has been directed to refund Rs 40,325 and pay a fine of Rs 18,000 to a customer, Samita Das, who purchased a smartphone that was later used for unauthorized purchases. The fine includes Rs 10,000 for mental agony and harassment, and Rs 8,000 for litigation costs.
According to the complaint, Samita Das, a resident of Sector 12, Chandigarh, purchased the smartphone from Amazon. In September 2023, fraudsters allegedly hacked the phone, gaining access to her personal data, email, and ICICI Bank credit card. Using this compromised information, they made unauthorized transactions on her Amazon account. Despite Das’s repeated attempts to report the suspicious activity and cancel the orders, some transactions were processed without proper verification.
In its defense, Amazon India, along with Amazon Pay Later, argued that they had promptly cancelled the fraudulent orders and provided necessary support to the complainant. Amazon stated that their customer service team had assisted Das in canceling the orders and ensured her account was secured to prevent further fraud.
The company also clarified that the payments for the fraudulent transactions were made to a nodal account, which is maintained by an RBI-recognized bank. Amazon explained that they are not the account holders of this nodal account and therefore have no control over its transactions.
Despite Amazon’s defense, the Consumer Commission held the company accountable for failing to act swiftly to resolve the issue. The commission highlighted that it is standard practice for online platforms to verify a product during returns and that this should have been communicated to the complainant.
The commission ruled that Amazon Retail India had control over the entire sales process, including handling cancellations, refunds, and delivery, but failed to address the issue in a timely manner. As a result, the company was ordered to refund the full amount and compensate Das for the distress caused by the fraudulent transactions.
This decision underscores the importance of online retailers ensuring customer safety, particularly when dealing with unauthorized access and financial fraud.
