Car dealer told to pay ₹2L for ‘mental agony’

New Delhi: A consumer court has ordered a car dealer in Delhi to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to a consumer for causing “harassment, mental agony and pain”. The car had developed a snag within the very first week of purchase.The complainant, Arun Kumar, who had purchased a Wagon R car by paying over Rs 4.5 lakh from a showroom in Amar Colony, Lajpat Nagar in 2012, claimed that the speedometer of his brand new vehicle stopped working within 24 hours of purchase.The bench of the Delhi state consumer disputes redressal commission, headed by president Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal and comprising judicial member Pinki and general member JP Agrawal, said, “If a brand new car gives trouble within a few years of its purchase, any consumer shall feel dissatisfied. In the present case, the respondent took the pains to take the new car to the workshop and no doubt, this constitutes mental agony”.Not only this, when the staff at the workshop took the car for repairs, it even met with an accident, Kumar alleged. Following this, the complainant requested for replacement of the vehicle. However, this was refused by the dealer. Kumar then approached the South Delhi district forum. The forum decided in favour of Kumar in Nov 2018 following which the car dealer filed an appeal in the commission.The court observed that the defects in the car point to negligence on the part of the staff of the appellant. “We modify the order to the extent that instead of replacing the said vehicle or refunding the complete amount of purchase, the appellant is directed to pay a sum of Rs2 lakh on accountof harassment, mental agony and pain to the respondent (Kumar),” it stated.
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