LHC rules online shopping disputes belong in consumer courts

The Lahore High Court has ruled that disputes arising from online shopping, including the failure to deliver goods after full payment and the cancellation of orders that follows, fall within the jurisdiction of consumer courts. Justice Malik Waqar Haider Awan made the ruling while dismissing a constitutional petition, ProPakistani reported.

The court held that a buyer cannot escape the special forum by describing a compensation claim as general damages. Jurisdiction is decided by the cause of action, it said, not by the words a plaintiff uses or the size of the sum claimed.

The petition was filed by Dr Muhammad Ahtisham Qamar. He challenged a civil court's decision to return his damages suit and an additional district judge's order dismissing his appeal against that decision.

He had sought Rs 2,116,480 in refund and damages over an online purchase of two clothing articles worth Rs 6,480. According to the petition, he paid the full amount with his credit card, the articles were not delivered within the promised period, and the sellers cancelled the order after 17 days, citing the Covid-19 pandemic. The amount was refunded, but he sought compensation for mental agony, humiliation and other losses.

The defendants first denied the online transaction, then admitted that a booking had been made, that the stock was unavailable and that the money received had been refunded.

The civil court returned the plaint under Order VII Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure and directed him to the forum set up under the Punjab Consumer Protection Act 2005. The appellate court upheld that order, which took him to the high court.

His counsel argued that the claim was mainly for general damages for the mental distress and humiliation caused by the cancellation. The court did not accept that route, holding that the consumer forum was the proper place for a complaint about an online purchase.

In practice the ruling means a shopper who files a civil suit over an online order can be sent to the consumer court instead, with the civil court returning the plaint rather than deciding the claim. The petition was dismissed and the orders of the lower courts stood.