Chennai, October 23: A Chennai consumer dispute involving a 50-paise coin resulted in a local post office being fined INR 15,000 after failing to return the small amount to a customer. The incident occurred when Manasha, a resident of Gerugambakkam, visited the Polichalur post office on December 3, 2023, to send a registered letter, which cost INR 29.50.

TOI reported that Manasha paid INR 30 at the counter and expected 50 paise in return, but was told the system automatically rounded off the fee to Rs 30. When Manasha offered to pay the exact amount via UPI, the post office declined, citing technical issues with the payment system. Paytm Account Frozen: Consumer Court Imposes Rs 12,000 Penalty on Paytm for Unreasonably Freezing Grocery Shopkeeper's Account.

Manasha filed a complaint with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, arguing that the post office’s practice of rounding off amounts could potentially siphon off significant sums over time, resulting in black money and losses to the government. India Post responded, stating their software was programmed to round off amounts, and payments less than 50 paise were ignored. Amazon Delivers Faulty Product: Consumer Court Imposes Rs 45,000 Penalty on Amazon for Taking Nearly 18 Months to Issue Refund for Faulty Laptop.

The post office also explained that their “Pay U” QR code system for UPI payments had malfunctioned since November 2023 and was discontinued in May 2024. After reviewing the case, the commission ruled that overcharging due to a software glitch was an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and ordered a INR 15,000 fine.

This comes after the Chandigarh District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Amazon Retail Indiato refund a woman  INR 40,325 for selling her a “hacked phone" that exposed her data and was used to make unauthorised purchases.

The company has also been fined a total of INR 18,000 —  INR 10,000 to the complainant as compensation for mental agony and harassment and  INR 8,000 as cost of litigation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 23, 2024 09:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).