He fights the small battles on principle

He fights the small battles on principle 

Sachin.Sharma@timesofindia.com 19.12.2024

Vadodara : The Rs 1,500 case! His case earned this title, but it didn’t deter or frustrate  him until he won it. It was not the first time this man has won such a case. He earlier won a case over the poor quality of a Rs 950 raincoat and approached the forum for a warrant when he was not compensated. Janmejay Moghe, an insurance advisor from Vadodara, first approached the consumer forum in 2019, when he bought a raincoat for Rs 950 after downpours caused floods in the city. The raincoat had holes and was faded. Moghe returned to the shop the next day for a replacement, but the shopkeeper showed him a placard declaring: “Goods once sold will not be replaced or returned”. The shop agreed to change the raincoat only after Moghe showed them the bill that said goods could be replaced within three days. But all the raincoats in the shop were of poor quality and he asked for a refund. When the shop did not give him one, Moghe approached the consumer forum in 2019, which decided the case in his favour in July 2021, ordering a refund with interest and Rs 500 towards his expenses and an equal amount as compensation for the mental agony caused. 

Moghe returned to the court for the same matter in 2022 after he did not receive the money. When the shop did not comply with the order, a warrant was issued. The shopkeeper coughed up Rs 2,290 and the case was closed. While Moghe was fighting it out over the Rs 950 raincoat, his car met with an accident on Dec 18, 2020. He got it towed to the workshop and repaired. While the insurance company paid the repair charges, it did not recompense Rs 1,500 for the towing. Moghe was surprised, as he knew the minutiae of claims, being an insurance agent himself. “I have never seen this charge being denied,” he said. It was time for the insurance agent to move the consumer forum for his own claim. “The insurer did not turn up or even furnish a reply,” he said. The forum eventually passed an order in Moghe’s favour recently, granting him Rs 1,500 for the towing charges, Rs 500 for as compensation for the harassment caused and Rs 1,000 for legal expenses.

 “It is not a question of small amounts, but that of merchants or companies taking us for granted. Despite patient representations and asking for only what is due, they seem to ignore us,’’ he said