Why consumer court ordered Nykaa to pay ₹4,000 compensation to a customer

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) in Chandigarh recently ordered beauty brand Nykaa to pay ₹4,000 as compensation to a customer for delays in refunding the payment made for a product that was not delivered. .A coram of President Pawanjit Singh and Member Surjeet Kaur noted that although Nykaa eventually paid the refund, this was only done after the customer sent a legal notice. "[Nykaa] kept the complainant waiting for the product for about one month and on 23.08.2023, after receiving the legal notice from the complainant ... refunded the paid amount ... it stands proved ... that the OPs [Nykaa] had wrongly & illegally withheld subject amount with them for quite some time and without any reason and had refunded the same to the complainant only when she was compelled to engage an advocate who sent a legal notice," the DCDRC said in its July 1 order. The commission concluded that Nykaa's lapses amounted to a deficiency in service and that the customer was entitled to compensation. Therefore, Nykaa was ordered to pay ₹4,000 to the customer as compensation for causing her mental agony and harassment and to cover litigation expenses..The customer had placed an order for skin care products on July 26, 2023. She paid ₹2,823.24 for the order online through the Nykaa App. However, she did not receive any further updates on her order. Despite contacting Nykaa's help centre and being assured that her urgent delivery request was forwarded, the order status remained unchanged and the product was not delivered. The customer sent a legal notice to Nykaa on August 21, 2023, after which a refund was issued. The customer further approached the district consumer court complaining about the delays on Nykaa's part in responding to her grievances. Nykaa countered that a full refund of ₹2824.21 has been issued, thereby negating any cause of action. Nykaa added that it was merely an intermediary and not liable for service deficiencies..The district consumer forum, however, was not persuaded by Nykaa's stance. It opined that the platform had unjustifiably withheld the customer's money and processed the refund only after she was forced to hire an advocate to send a legal notice. Consequently, the consumer court ruled against Nykaa and ordered it to compensate the customer. .Advocate Anshul Jindal appeared for the customer. Advocate Bhavraj Singh Gulati appeared for Nykaa and its additional director. .[Read Order]