Coming to rescue a citizen with a fine who was allegedly provided an old Honda City car. Under the garb of a new one, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum.
Here directed Emperor Honda dealership to either replace it or refund it. The cost is of Rs 12.32 lakh to the customer with 10% interest within a month.
A division bench of president Sanjay Patil, and members also slapped Rs 40,000 fine on the Ajni square-based dealership. Fine is for adopting unethical practices and duping the complainant. It included Rs 30,000 for mental and physical harassment and Rs 10,000 for litigation costs.
The litigant also moved the complaint to Honda’s headquarters in Japan, where they assured to look into it.
Though the verdict was delivered ex-parte, the complainant’s lawyer Shrikant Saoji delivered its copy to the showroom in charge Sushil Araspure. “We’ve received judgment copy and dispatched it to Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) head office at Noida for further action. They’ve informed us that they would get back to the customer. The timeframe: within a week and then inform us accordingly,” Araspure told.
The Tatya Tope Nagar resident then lodged a complaint with the dealership accusing it of installing old parts in a new car. When all his pleas fell on deaf ears, he knocked on the consumer forum’s doors through counsel Saoji demanding either replacement of his vehicle or a refund of the entire 12.32 lakh with 12% interest.
The HCIL through its chairman and managing director responded while denying all allegations. They argued that they dispatch all vehicles from their plant after stringent checks and balances. They denied Emperor Honda being its agent and therefore, there is no ‘contract’ between them and the customer.
Final Words
The judges noted that Emperor Honda failed to respond despite repeated intimation. The channels through e-mail and personally as well by the customer.
The bench further pointed out that the HCIL handed over the car to the dealership on a “principal to principal” basis and therefore, the latter wasn’t an agent of the company. While absolving HCIL from all charges, the forum held Emperor Honda squarely responsible for adopting unethical practices and duping the customer.
