Protecting Consumers: E-Comm Portal Home Shop 18 Fined Rs 16,000 For Misleading Ads Of “Free Gift Vouchers”

E-commerce portal Home Shop 18 has been asked to pay up Rs 16,000 to the complainant by the consumer protection body over misleading advertisement of “free gift vouchers,” reports The Hindu.

The complainant, Mridul Jain, alleged that he purchased a phablet for Rs 6,400 on seeing an “offer of gift vouchers worth ₹1,000,” But the vouchers he received had “terms and conditions” that he was not previously aware of. Countering this claim, Home Shop 18 contended that the vouchers were “voluntarily” provided and that the terms and conditions (T&C) were available on the website.

However, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), India’s apex body to protect the interests of consumers, found the company’s reply unsatisfactory and stated that Home Shop 18 was guilty of unfair trade practice.

“Inducing the consumer to purchase a particular article...without specifically mentioning the terms and conditions of the gift coupon in the main advertisement can be construed as not providing them as offered,” the Commission stated.

NCDRC is a quasi-judicial commission which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.

Not Specific Enough

“The advertisement on the website does not specifically mention about the ‘conditions to follow’…therefore the case falls within the ambit of relevant rules, which specifies the offering of gifts, price of other items with the notification of not providing them as offered, when it is fully or partly covered by the amount charged in the transaction as a whole,” the Commission added.

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