Basketball Rim Injury at Mall Leaves Teacher Without a Finger, Insurer Ordered to Pay Rs 8.22 Lakh
basketball injury left a teacher with a permanent finger loss after a rim accident. The insurer was ordered to pay Rs 8.22 lakh over the claim.
basketball rim accident left a teacher without a finger, leading to an insurance dispute. The insurer has been ordered to pay Rs 8.22 lakh as compensation.
Basketball: A consumer commission in Himachal Pradesh has directed an insurance company to pay Rs 8.22 lakh in compensation to a 31-year-old physical education teacher who lost his left ring finger after it was caught in a basketball rim while he was playing at a trampoline park located inside a mall.
The commission bench, comprising President Hemanshu Mishra and members Arti Sood and Narayan Thakur, additionally directed the mall’s operators and the operators of the gaming section to jointly and severally pay the complainant Rs 25,000.
“It is established that there is negligence on the part of opposite parties no 1, 2, 4 & 6,” the commission stated, adding that the parties could not escape liability by describing the incident as an accident, according to the order.
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Basketball: What Led to the Complaint
According to the complainant’s account before the commission, he had visited the mall with a friend and entered a gaming zone, where he was playing basketball when his left hand struck the metallic basketball ring. The impact, he alleged, detached the ring finger of his left hand on the spot, causing immediate and severe traumatic numbness.
The complainant was first taken to a hospital in Bengaluru, where doctors performed emergency reattachment surgery. The procedure failed after tissue necrosis set in, and the finger was subsequently amputated. The complainant told the commission he had incurred Rs 3 lakh in medical expenses as a result.
In their defence, the mall operators denied negligence, stating that the complainant had been informed of the risks involved and had signed a trampoline park registration and declaration form before entering. They said safety rules displayed at the venue prohibited rings and other accessories inside the arena, and contended that the injury occurred because the complainant had not removed his ring and had misjudged the height of the basket.
Basketball: Commission Cites Equipment Safety Lapses, Rejects Insurer’s Procedural Defence
Examining the evidence, the commission found that the basketball ring was not properly maintained, noting it was not rubber-coated or padded. It held that the ring installed in the trampoline zone was unsafe, unpadded, uncoated and exposed, making it dangerous for use in a high-impact jumping environment, and that this had resulted in the complainant’s finger amputation.
New India Assurance Co. Ltd, the insurer named in the case, argued in its reply that the mall operators had failed to intimate or report the incident in accordance with the mandatory terms of the insurance policy, amounting to a breach of policy conditions. The commission rejected this as grounds to deny the claim, holding that “any procedural breach of policy conditions regarding delayed intimation between OPs No.1–4 and OP No 5 cannot operate to defeat the third-party victim’s right to direct indemnification under a Public Liability Policy.”
Having held the mall and the gaming section operators liable for gross operational negligence and deficiency of service, the commission directed the insurer to indemnify the loss and pay the complainant Rs 8.22 lakh.
Consumers seeking recourse in similar matters can contact their state consumer helpline — 1800-180-8087 in Himachal Pradesh — or the National Consumer Helpline at 1915.
