Skoda, dealer fined Rs 2.33L

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 14

Skoda India Private Limited, Maharashtra, and Krishana Auto Sales, Chandigarh, were fined Rs 2.33 lakh by the State Consumer Commission here for selling a car without the features that were promised and shown in the brochure before sale.

As per complainant Parshotam Singh, a resident of Sector 35, he purchased a Skoda Octavia Ambition car from the dealer. The car he purchased was a base model that was launched in 2017. He paid an amount of Rs 17.56 lakh to the dealer. Before purchasing the car, Parshotam went to the showroom of the dealer. On enquiry, he was told about salient features of the car.

Brochure showing features of three variants of the car namely Octavia Ambition, Octavia Style and Octavia Style Plus was handed over to him. He was told that the features shown in the said brochure are available in all three variants of the car. He was assured by the representative of the dealer that the base model of the car will be equipped with all features mentioned in the brochure.

Before taking delivery and after making the booking, the complainant sent an email to Skoda India on August 2, 2017 intimating that he was made to test drive the Octavia Style Plus model. He asked the company as to whether features mentioned in the brochure will be available in the base model or not. However, he didn’t get proper reply in this regard.

When Parshotam went to take the delivery of the vehicle, he noticed that some features were not available therein. The dealer told him that those features were wrongly shown in the Octavia Ambition variant in the company’s brochure.

The opposite parties in their reply stated that once delivery of the car was taken by writing a note that the car was in a good condition, objections qua non-availability of features aforesaid cannot be raised after that. It added that in a feedback given by the complainant’s son, he had rated the performance of the said car as ‘excellent”. It was stated that when the car was sold, all features were shown to the complainant and thereupon, delivery was given. However, no objection was raised at that time.

The commission observed that merely because at the time of taking delivery of the car, no objection was raised is not a ground to deny relief to the complainant. “A person intending to purchase a new car, on auspicious day, will go to the showroom by telling his family members”, reads the order.

The order further reads, “He is supposed to be in a hurry and might not check all features, while believing the commitments made vide brochure and also witnessed through test drive and furthermore, even if found that some features are lacking, under pressure of having been made payment, he is bound to take the delivery thereof.”