An Ernakulam consumer commission has ordered a jewellery showroom to refund Rs 17,250 and pay Rs 15,000 in compensation after a customer’s UPI payment made through its QR code was not credited.
A Kerala consumer commission has held that a jewellery seller must absorb the risk of a faulty QR code payment made on its premises, ordering a gold showroom to return Rs 17,250 to a woman whose UPI transfer was never credited to her purchase. The Ernakulam District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also awarded Rs 15,000 in compensation and costs, bringing the total payable to Rs 32,250, according to the order dated September 26.
The dispute arose after the woman joined an 11-month gold savings scheme and later visited the showroom on November 17, 2022, to collect ornaments. She said she paid the balance by scanning a QR code displayed in the store, only to find that the money had been debited from her account but not accepted by the jeweller. She then approached the police and complained that the bank said the funds had reached another account at the same bank, while refusing to provide further details.
In its order, the commission said that once the customer showed she had paid through the QR code made available at the shop, the burden shifted to the business to explain where the money went and to show that the code was not its own or had not been authorised by it. The bench, led by president D B Binu with members Ramachandran V and Shreevidhia T N, said the customer could not reasonably be expected to know who controlled the merchant’s QR code or the linked bank account. Because the jeweller did not appear despite notice, the case was decided ex parte.
The commission added that any trader offering digital payments at its premises has a duty to make sure the QR code is genuine, correctly linked and protected from tampering or substitution. It found that the showroom’s failure to help trace the money or secure the payment set-up amounted to negligence and poor service. The woman, the order said, was forced to deal with the bank, PhonePe, police and the consumer forum before the matter was resolved, causing financial loss, inconvenience and mental anguish.
The ruling lands against a wider backdrop of QR code-related fraud cases in Kerala. Onmanorama reported this year on a Kochi textile shop where workers allegedly used personal QR codes to divert customer payments into their own accounts, while Deshabhimani reported a Crime Branch case in which staff at a Thiruvananthapuram boutique were accused of siphoning off Rs 66 lakh in a similar manner. In that context, the Ernakulam commission’s decision signals that businesses may be held responsible when payment systems displayed at their counters fail customers who act in good faith.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
