Dell India gets notice for over-pricing products

Computer major Dell India has been issued notice by a district consumer court here for allegedly over-pricing products and supplying a faulty laptop to a customer.

A consumer court in Shalimar Bagh, while issuing notice to Dell India earlier this week, asked the firm to file its response by Dec 21, the next date of hearing.

The court was hearing the plea of Archer Softech Pvt Ltd through its advocate Ankur Raheja, who alleged that the Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop it bought for Rs.69,164 turned out to be faulty. He also said that the company was not ready to replace or repair the product.

"Except the hard-disk and processor (which are of Toshiba and Intel make, respectively), almost each and every part has either been replaced or is not functioning properly due to manufacturing defects and poor quality of spares supplied for the laptop," Raheja told IANS.

He added that his client had to run form pillar to post to get spare parts for the laptop and its servicing, which also resulted in loss of business. He has demanded that the company return the amount paid by the consumer for the laptop and a compensation of Rs.400,000.

The complainant also alleged that Dell is over-pricing its products, charging consumers much more than the maximum retail price (MRP).

"There is no doubt that Dell India's aim is not just profit but extraordinary profit by exploiting Indian customers. That is why the prices for laptops and especially parts are always charged on the higher side in India," Raheja said in the complaint.

He said that the company had charged much more than the MRP for a battery. The cost of the battery, printed on the box, was Rs.2,100 but the company charged Rs.5,152, he alleged.

"We have contacted the company on many occasions but lame excuses were provided by the irresponsible staff. And on some occasions, no response was received," Raheja said.