NCDRC awards ₹2 crore compensation to a woman for bad haircut

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has ordered the luxury hotels chain ITC to pay Rs 2 crore as compensation to a customer observing that “she lost her expected assignments and suffered a huge loss which completely changed her lifestyle and shattered her dream to be a top model.”

Aashna Roy v. Yogesh Deveshwar & Anr.

A Bench of President RK Agrawal and Member Dr SM Kantikar awarded compensation after noting that women are no doubt cautious about their hair, spend a handsome amount on keeping them in good condition, and are emotionally attached to them.

“She was also working as a Senior Management Professional and earning a decent income. She underwent severe mental breakdown and trauma due to negligence in cutting her hair and could not concrete her job and finally, she lost her job,” the order said.

In this case, Aashna Roy (customer) had visited the salon at ITC Maurya on 12 April 2018 for a simple haircut, a week before a scheduled interview. However, the hairdresser chopped off ‘her entire hair’ instead, allegedly leaving just ‘4 inches from the top’.

Later she complained to the manager, she was offered a complimentary hair treatment as compensation. However, Roy alleged that her hair and scalp was completely damaged due to excess ammonia.

It was noted that the hotel failed to take action against the hairdressers, after which she filed a complaint with the NCDRC. She also accused salon staff and the hotel management of mistreatment.

However, the redressal commission held ITC Hotels liable by referring to a WhatsApp exchange that took place between Aashna Roy and hotel officials, in which the latter admitted to “alleged deficiency in service”.

“A bare perusal of the WhatsApp chat adduced by the Complainant would reveal that the Opposite Party had admitted the fault on their part and, by offering the free hair treatment, tried to cover it. There was also negligence on the part of the Opposite Party No.2 in giving hair treatment to the Complainant,” the NCDRC said.

Therefore, the NCDRC held ITC hotel liable and directed them to pay the compensation amount within eight weeks of the judgment.