Kakinada: The Kakinada shopper fee, comprising Ch. Raghupathy, Vasantha Kumar, Chakka Susi, and Chaganti Nageswara Rao, has fined Apple firm to pay Rs 14,900 or ship AirPods and pay a high-quality of Rs 15,000 to a shopper who bought an Apple iPhone. The complainant, Chandalada Padma Raju, ordered an Apple iPhone on 13 October 2021 from Apple Distribution International in Hollyhill Industrial Cork, Ireland, as the corporate supplied a free present of AirPods with a charging case, price Rs 14,900, with the acquisition of an iPhone priced at Rs 85,800 on its official web site. However, the complainant didn’t obtain the AirPods with the charging case.

The complainant approached the corporate and its representatives, who urged contacting the Customer Care Centre. Despite a number of makes an attempt to succeed in the Customer Care Centre, the complainant discovered that the representatives didn’t reply the telephone. Consequently, the complainant filed a grievance with the Kakinada Consumer Commission on 15 February 2024. After completely inspecting the arguments offered by the complainant, the Commission directed the corporate to both ship the AirPods with a charging case price Rs 14,900 or pay Rs 14,900 to the complainant. Additionally, the Commission ordered the corporate to pay Rs 10,000 for psychological agony and bodily pressure, together with a Rs 5,000 high-quality in direction of prices.

The Commission expressed concern over the rising pattern amongst company firms to supply freebies and items by means of deceptive ads to draw clients, which isn’t anticipated from a reputed worldwide firm like Apple India. To deter such practices, the Kakinada Consumer Commission levied a high-quality of Rs 1 lakh as punitive damages to be paid to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Relief Fund.