Russian court denies consumer status to owner of mining equipment

A resident of Yekaterinburg could not obtain compensation for the delay in delivery of mining equipment, as the court held that the consumer-protection law does not apply to it.

According to the case materials, in 2019 the plaintiff ordered from LLC «SVGA STOR» two Pangolin Whatsminer ASIC miners costing 340,200 rubles. By the specified deadline, the equipment had not been delivered, and the company refused to refund the money.

The resident of Yekaterinburg filed a claim with Leninsky District Court seeking the amount paid for the equipment, a late fee of 147,987 rubles, moral damages of 50,000 rubles and a fine. The court awarded only the amount paid for the delivery of the equipment, denying the rest of the claims.

The plaintiff appealed this decision to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court, but they held that he could not rely on the consumer protection law.

The appellate court clarified that the law recognises a consumer as a citizen who purchases goods solely for personal needs not related to engaging in entrepreneurial activity.

“The plaintiff purchased goods intended for cryptocurrency mining, which in itself implies use for systematic profit extraction. The plaintiff did not present any evidence to the court to the contrary,” the statement said.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court left the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg’s decision unchanged.

As reported earlier, in November the Moscow region utility proved in court the fact of electricity theft by the company “Innovative Digital Technologies” for mining.

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