Jalandhar: Pay Rs 18L for selling defective car, firm told

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Jalandhar, July 7

Taking account of manufacturing defects in a new car sold to a city-based advocate by Tata Motors through its dealer Aakriti World on the Police Line Road, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jalandhar, in its recent judgment directed the company to pay Rs 18.43 lakh to the former, along with the charges spent for the RC. The complainant was also entitled to get Rs 50,000 as compensation and litigation expenses.

Advocate RK Bhalla of Basti Sheikh here had approached the commission in September last year, complaining that he had purchased Tata Harrier from Aakriti World on August 28, 2020. However, immediately after the purchase, he found whenever he applied brakes, a screeching sound emanated from the vehicle.

When he approached the car dealer, he was told that with passage of time, the fault would automatically be corrected. “But even after a few months, there was no improvement and rather the sound started getting louder,” he added.

Bhalla said to get the defect repaired, he visited the dealer’s shop several times, but to no avail as they failed to get the problem rectified. “I then made a complaint to the customer care of Tata Motors, which failed to give me a satisfactory reply,” he said.

He said he he again put a complaint with the customer care and his complaint was referred to the Chandigarh Regional Office. “The company then changed some parts of the vehicle rather than repairing the defect. When I approached them again, they claimed that the said sound is produced in demo vehicles too and it was a normal phenomenon,” he said.

He said after the company failed to resolve his issue, he got the vehicle checked from an expert of Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, who compared the intensity of Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) of his vehicle with another Tata Harrier, and observed a manufacturing defect, which might have affected the performance of the vehicle future. He said he paid Rs 35,000 to the experts for the examination report.

Consequently, advocate Bhalla, approached the commission and served a legal notice on the company. In its reply, the company stated that there was no such problem in the car.

Subsequently, after examining all facts, a report of the expert and statements of both parties, the forum declared that there was a deficiency in service. Hence, the complainant was entitled to receive complete refund of the car. The firm will also have to pay the litigation charges to the victim.

Complainant also entitled to get Rs 50K

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jalandhar has directed the company to pay Rs 18.43 lakh to a city-based advocate, along with the charges spent for the RC of the vehicle. The complainant was also entitled to get Rs 50,000 as compensation and litigation expenses.