Refund cost of defective vehicle, auto dealer told

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 23

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, has rejected the appeal of CMPL Motors Private Limited against the order of the District Consumer Forum directing it to refund Rs4.35 lakh to a consumer for selling a defective vehicle.

The forum, in its order dated September 12, 2020, also directed CMPL Motors Private Limited to pay Rs50,000 to the complainant as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment and Rs15,000 as cost of litigation.

The customer approached the forum after he found that the vehicle, which he purchased, was defective and the problems were not solved despite several services.

The commission, in the order, said the view of the appellant (auto dealer) cannot be accepted that the problem of overheating of vehicle was due to poor/defective workmanship in the fabrication and placement of body upon the vehicle of the complainant and not due to any fault of the appellant.

The commission said the vehicle was repaired several times in a span of about six months, sometimes on a payment basis and sometimes under warranty from the date of its purchase by the complainant i.e. March 31, 2016. Taking such a plea of poor/defective workmanship in the fabrication and placement of body upon the vehicle of the complainant is an afterthought.

The commission also supported the view of the forum that the vehicle was not new as it was sold to another consumer earlier. The commission noted that there is deficiency of service on part of the appellant.

“We may also state here that it is the appellant (dealer) who received the payment from the complainant as the price of the vehicle and after having sold the vehicle and charged the price thereof, it (appellant) cannot shift the blame onto the complainant,” says the order.

The commission said: “The appellant cannot be absolved of its responsibility of having either to replace the vehicle or refund the price of the defective vehicle. There is no doubt that the complainant had to suffer mental agony and harassment on account of sale of defective vehicle by the appellant and taking it again and again to the appellant for repairs. So, we concur with the findings of the district forum in its order and in our considered opinion, it rightly ordered refund of Rs4.35 lakh paid by the complainant towards the cost of the vehicle, besides other relief.