5 days ago
Bengaluru clinic told to repay Rs 1 lakh after botched skin treatment
Bengaluru: What began as a routine skincare consultation turned into a distressing legal battle for 29-year-old Ishwarya T after the clinic allegedly botched her treatment, misled her with false promises and even facilitated a loan in her name without her full consent.
In Feb 2023, Ishwarya sought laser treatment but was given a chemical peel that caused side effects.
Observing that retaining money without providing full services was unjust, the II additional district consumer redressal commission has now ordered the clinic to issue the woman a full refund.
The story began when Ishwarya Thamatam, an HSR Layout resident, approached Kolours Healthcare in BTM Layout in 2023 for a laser treatment.
The clinic staff, however, administered a chemical peel instead —without proper consultation or explanation. The treatment allegedly caused adverse side effects. Ishwarya was told a second round of treatment would be given to fix the issue, but before that could happen, the clinic applied for loans on her behalf amounting to Rs 1 lakh and had the amount transferred directly into its account.
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One loan of Rs 50,000 was sanctioned by LoanTap Credit Products Pvt Ltd, and another of Rs 33,750 was taken from Life Care Finance.
These amounts were directly transferred to the clinic's account as payment for the treatment. Together with an initial down payment she made, the total amount paid to Kolours came to about Rs 1.1 lakh. The loans were structured as EMIs — 10 monthly instalments each — starting from Feb and May 2023 respectively, even though she only received one session of treatment.
Furthermore, when she tried to cancel the treatment and stop the loan, the clinic refused to help, claiming there was no refund policy.
To make matters worse, an invoice falsely stated she had taken a hair transplant treatment — something she never signed up for. Feeling cheated and suffering side effects, Ishwarya filed a consumer complaint on Dec 27, 2023, alleging deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
In its defence, Kolours Healthcare claimed that Ishwarya had agreed to the terms and conditions, including the no-refund clause, and she voluntarily took loans and received treatment.
It also insisted that "the best possible care" was provided but the complainant didn't follow the full schedule of treatment.
After going through the evidence and hearing both sides, the commission observed the clinic only administered one session, retained the full Rs 1 lakh without providing the agreed-upon services, and misrepresented facts in its invoices. It also noted the no-refund clause could not be enforced in a one-sided, unjust manner, especially when no substantial service was rendered. "Even if a consent form was signed, it cannot justify withholding payment when there's clear deficiency in service," the commission said.
On July 11, the commission bench, comprising Vijaykumar M Pawale and Anuradha V, ordered Kolours Healthcare to refund Rs 1 lakh, apart from paying Ishwarya Rs 15,000 for mental agony and litigation costs.
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