Realme Held Responsible for Faulty Phone Explosion Causing Injury and Missed Exam

A Delhi consumer commission has held Realme responsible for selling a faulty phone that exploded and caused injury to a young man just a day before his civil services preliminary exam, making him miss the entrance and lose a year of preparation.

What was the dispute

Koti Sai Pavan had bought a Realme XT phone for Rs 18,000 in October 2019. He had moved to Delhi to prepare for the UPSC examination and had paid Rs 1,42,000 for a coaching course. His exam was scheduled for June 5, 2022. But early on June 4, 2022, while he was asleep with the phone lying next to him, it suddenly exploded and caught fire. He suffered burns on his arm, upper arm and forehead, and blisters on his fingers. Because of this, he had to rush to hospital and could not appear for his exam the very next day, which costed him an entire year of preparation. When he took the phone to Realme's service centre, he was told it could only be repaired and not replaced. Later, when he went to collect it, the company allegedly asked him to sign a document saying the damage was "user-induced." He refused, after which the company didn't return the phone to him. Aggrieved by this, he approached the consumer court and filed a complaint.

Pavan filed evidence including hospital records, photos of the burnt phone and his injuries, and a statement from his roommate, who had witnessed the explosion. Whereas Realme, on the other hand, filed a written reply but never submitted any evidence or arguments in support of their claim.

What did the commission rule

The commission examined the medical records from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and photographs showing the phone's battery completely burnt and the handset split open. Based on this, it held that Pavan had clearly shown the damage was caused by "the burning and explosion in the battery" of the phone. It added that Realme should have acted responsibly instead of trying to blame the customer, noting that "it was essential for the company to proactively take the action to reimburse the loss and investigate what went wrong." The commission was also critical of the fact that the company filed a reply but then did nothing further, observing that this "clearly shows that the company had nothing to say in its defence." The order also stressed that a phone battery exploding is a serious safety concern and that manufacturers must ensure their products don't fail in any circumstances. Calling Realme's conduct careless, the commission said it warranted "imposition of an exemplary cost" for supplying a substandard phone that compromised on quality and caused real harm. It held that Pavan was "sold a defective product" and had suffered financial loss, physical injury, and the loss of a crucial year of his exam preparation.

In the end, the commission awarded him Rs 1,00,000 as compensation for his pain, injury and mental agony, Rs 25,000 in damages, and Rs 25,000 towards litigation costs — a total of Rs 1.5 lakh, with 6 per cent annual interest from October 2022. It also warned that if Realme doesn't pay within 30 days, the interest rate will go up to 9 per cent per annum.