Tailor ordered to pay Rs 12k compensation over 'ill-fitting" dress

Bulandshahr: A consumer court has directed a tailor in Uttar Pradesh to pay Rs 12,000 plus as compensation for stitching an 'ill-fitting kurta pyjama'. In the four-year-old case, the court also ordered additional compensation for the tailor for mental harassment, IANS reported.

The court ordered the tailor, Iftikhar Ansari, to refund the tailoring charges of Rs 720 along with interest, Rs 1,500 as the cost of cloth, and Rs 5,000 as litigation costs. Tailor, the owner of Silco Tailors, was also slapped with Rs 5,000 for harassment to the consumer for stitching an 'ill-fitting kurta pyjama', IANS reports.

MP Singh, the 58-year-old complainant, said, "Stitching of a kurta-pyjama set does not take more than Rs 200 from a regular shop. However, if I am willing to pay Rs 720, I expect quality, and it is the responsibility of the tailor to satisfy me. The problem is that when you become established, you tend to outsource your work. I think the bad stitching was a result of that. Besides, the tailor was not willing to admit his mistake. I could have let go of the matter but decided to not do so. When we have a court for the protection of the consumer, then why should we not avail of its benefits?"

Singh is currently the District Information Officer at Bulandshahr collectorate.

Assistant Information Officer at the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Shekhar Verma, said, "Several notices were served to the accused, but he never turned up for the trial, which went on for four years. Eventually, the forum's three-member team headed by its head, Chandrapal Singh, gave an ex-parte decision."

Meanwhile, the defendant Ansari refuted all charges. He said, "The verdict came as a surprise to me because I never received any notice. Attending the trial, therefore, was out of the question. I clearly remember that there was no dispute with the complainant, and even after stitching that kurta-pyjama set, he got many other clothes stitched from our shop."