Car dealer penalised for delay in getting RC issued; ‘cheating’ customer of exchange bonus

Gagan K Teja

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 17

Filing a complaint with the District Consumer Forum not only brought relief to a consumer, who was being harassed by a car dealer by not getting the registration certificate (RC) issued, but also found that the dealer had tried to ‘cheat’ the customer of the car exchange bonus that was promised to him.

The forum, while settling the matter, asked the dealer to get the RC issued and also refund the excess amount of Rs 23,631 lying with it, along with Rs 5,000 as litigation charges.

However, the dealer moved the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission against the order, which dismissed the petition and upheld the order pronounced by the district forum.

On June 3, last year, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum had directed authorised Maruti dealer Hira Automobiles to refund the excess amount of Rs 23,631 lying with it and also pay litigation charges of Rs 5,000, besides getting the RC issued to the customer.

Arguing the case before the forum, the counsel for the complainant, Sunpreet Singh, had stated that his client, Manish, had purchased a Maruti Ritz car from Hira Automobiles on September 26, 2014. Besides paying the cost of the car, the complainant also deposited the requisite amount for registration certificate (RC), along with other charges.

On October 1, 2014, the complainant made full payment for the car and the RC. However, the dealer failed to apply for the RC and on October 8, the state government enhanced the RC charges from 6 per cent to 8 per cent.

A few days later, the complainant approached the dealer for the RC, but the matter was put off. After the temporary registration number expired on October 26, he wrote a letter to the dealer on October 30 for deliverance of the RC. But the dealer wrote back asking him to deposit an additional cost of Rs 12,115 against the hiked charges of the RC.

The counsel for the complainant contested that the dealer had failed to apply for the RC and there was lapse in service for which the complainant was being asked to shell out Rs 12,115 even as he had deposited the requisite amount with the dealer.

During the discussion, the forum found that the dealer not only delayed applying for the RC, but had also ‘cheated’ the customer of an exchange bonus of Rs 25,000, which was to be adjusted as promised by the dealer.

The counsel for Hira Automobiles contested that the customer was to pay Rs 29,600 for the RC, while he had left only Rs 27,000 in excess with the dealer due to which the RC could not be applied. However, on calculating the amount paid against the cost of the car and other charges, the forum found that that a sum of Rs 52,000 was in excess with the dealer, out of which he was to pay Rs 29,600 for the RC, which was never done and passed an order in favour of the complainant.

The car dealer approached the state commission, where arguing the case, the counsel for the customer, Sukhjinder Singh, contended that the dealer was deliberately delaying the issuance of the RC and had ‘cheated’ his client of the exchange bonus.

The commission upheld the order pronounced by the district forum and put on record that ‘after minutely scrutinising the evidence, the findings of the district forum were found to be correct and well reasoned.’ The commission also stated that the ‘car dealer was trying to confuse this Commission regarding the inclusion of the bonus of Rs 25,000 in the price of the old car’ and dismissed the petition.