Apple India got sued for damaging iPhone 13, now ordered to pay Rs 1 lakh to owner

Apple India has recently been ordered by the Bengaluru city court to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to a man for allergy damaging his iPhone 13 during repairs and further asking him to pay for repairs which are not included in warranty.

The case dates back to October 29, 2021, when Awez Khan purchased an iPhone 13 with a one-year warranty. Several months later, Khan encountered issues related to the battery and speaker. Seeking professional assistance, Khan visited the iPlanet Care Centre in Indiranagar, Apple's authorised service center, in August 2022.

There, the Apple Store technicians assured him that the problems could be resolved, and he would receive his handset within a week.

A few days later, Khan received a phone call saying that the problem with his iPhone had been fixed and he could pick it up. However, when he went to the service center to get his phone, he found that it was still not working properly. The service center had promised to take another look at the phone, but they did not respond to Khan's inquiries for two weeks.

However, after taking his iPhone back for repair, Khan didn't receive any updates on his phone for two weeks. When he finally reached out, the representatives informed him that they had found a glue-like substance on the phone's outer mesh and that the repair was not covered under warranty. They then asked him to pay more to get it fixed.

Frustrated by this development, Khan contacted Apple India through phone and email on multiple occasions but received no response. However, Khan then decided to take legal action and sent a legal notice to Apple on October 27, 2022, which also went unanswered.

In December 2022, Khan lodged a complaint against Apple India Pvt Ltd and iPlanet Care Centre, Indiranagar, citing unfair trade practices, with the Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Shantinagar.

Following the complaint, Apple's lawyers argued that Khan's lawsuit was not legally or factually sound, and that he was just trying to get something for nothing. They argued that the customer had damaged his phone by making unauthorised modifications, and that these modifications were not covered by the warranty. Furthermore, they claimed that the customer had declined the paid service and subsequently refused to take possession of the phone in protest.

However, in the latest development, the court, after hearing both parties, has ruled in favour of the customer- Awez Khan , ordering Apple and its service partner to refund Rs 79,900, inclusive of interest towards the iPhone's cost, and pay an additional Rs 20,000 as compensation for the inconvenience caused.