Man ordered an iPhone Pro, instead received a fake Chinese phone with Apple logo; Court orders Flipkart to pay him Rs 1.7 lakh

A Bulandshahr man who ordered an Apple iPhone 14 Pro worth Rs 1,43,335 from Flipkart ended up finding a green Chinese phone with a fake Apple logo and only two cameras inside the box, instead of the three-camera iPhone he had paid for. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Bulandshahr, has now directed Flipkart to refund the full amount with interest, along with compensation, taking his total payout to roughly Rs 1.7 lakh.

The order was placed by Omprakash Singh, a resident of Anupshahr in Bulandshahr, who bought the Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro on 29 May 2023 using a special discount and paid for it in full through his credit card. The delivery arrived at an address in R.K. Puram, New Delhi, where the unboxing was recorded on video using the delivery agent's own phone and shared with Singh over WhatsApp.



Two cameras instead of three gave the fake away
When the box was opened in front of the delivery agent, it did not contain the iPhone Singh had ordered. Instead, it held a green-coloured Chinese phone carrying a counterfeit Apple logo and just two rear cameras, unlike the genuine iPhone 14 Pro, which comes with three. Singh raised a return request from his phone immediately, but it was cancelled by the seller.

Flipkart called it "damaged," five times over
Undeterred, Singh submitted return requests five separate times. Each time, representatives of Flipkart reportedly marked the product as "damaged" without ever physically inspecting the phone he had received. Calls to Flipkart's toll-free number also brought no resolution. When Singh's advocate sent a legal notice on 5 July 2023, it came back undelivered with the postal remark that the shop number was not mentioned, leaving him with no option but to approach the consumer commission.

"We're just the platform," Flipkart argued
In its written statement, Flipkart argued that it was merely an online intermediary connecting buyers with independent third-party sellers, and not the actual seller of the product. It pointed to its open-box delivery facility, arguing that Singh should have rejected the phone on the spot if he found a discrepancy, and that having accepted delivery, the company could not be held liable for a refund. Flipkart also denied any fraud or harassment, saying no cause of action existed against it under the Consumer Protection Act.

Commission wasn't convinced
The Commission, comprising President Hasnain Qureshi and Member Neelam Kumari, examined the order records, the unboxing video, photographs of the delivered phone, and the returned legal notice. It concluded that Flipkart had collected the full price of a genuine iPhone but delivered a counterfeit device, calling this a clear deficiency in service, negligence, and an unfair trade practice.

Full refund, interest, and a Rs 30,000 penalty
Flipkart has been directed to take back the fake Chinese phone and refund the full Rs 1,43,335 to Singh, along with 7% annual interest calculated from the date of filing the complaint on 3 August 2023 until the amount is actually paid. The company must also pay Rs 20,000 as compensation for mental harassment and Rs 10,000 towards litigation costs, all within 45 days. Should Flipkart fail to pay within this period, the interest rate on the outstanding amount rises to 8% per annum until final payment.

Case judgement here: