In an interesting turn of events, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, situated in Delhi, has ordered Apple India to pay Rs. 1 lakh to a customer. The commission found Apple India guilty of deficiency in service over its “iPhone findable after power off” feature. Bench comprising of President Monika A. Srivastava and Member Kiran Kaushal, observed that the claim was displayed without any disclaimer which made it misleading, reports Live Law.
What happened?
The complaint was filed by a Delhi resident, Shan Mohammad, who bought an iPhone 13 in 2022. His phone was later stolen, and he tried to track it using Apple’s feature that says the phone can still be found even when switched off.
However, he was unable to locate the device despite following all the steps. This led him to file a complaint, saying he faced financial loss and mental stress.
What is Apple’s response?
Apple India argued that it is not responsible for recovering stolen phones. The company said tracking depends on certain conditions, like whether the Find My feature was turned on before the phone was lost.
It also explained that the feature in question works only if the “Find My” function is enabled by the user. It claimed that the complainant had not activated this feature prior to the theft and maintained that adequate assistance had been provided through customer support. that the phone needs to be within range of a network for tracking to work.
What did the commission say?
The commission found that Apple did not clearly mention these conditions. The message “findable after power off” appeared without any warning or explanation.
Because of this, a normal user could assume that the phone can always be tracked, which is not true. The commission said this lack of clear information counts as misleading and poor service.
Why does this matter?
This case shows that tech companies must clearly explain how their features work. Big claims without proper details can confuse customers.
For users, it is also a reminder to understand device settings and features carefully instead of relying only on what is shown on the screen.