The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum,Chandigarh,has directed car dealer Joshi Autozone and Tata Motors to pay Rs 55,000 compensation for selling a defective Tata Safari to a city resident. While Tata Motors has been directed to repair the vehicle to the satisfaction of the complainant,the car dealer will have to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 for not refunding a balance amount of Rs 5,000 paid by the complainant towards the cost of the vehicle and insurance. Complainant Kamaljit Kaur had purchased the SUV for Rs 9,05,682 and was told to pay another Rs 25,696 towards the insurance of the vehicle. As the dealer had raised a cumulative bill of Rs 9,31,378,Kaur made a payment of Rs 9,36,378 through a draft. However,the excess amount of Rs 5,000 was not refunded within five days as promised by the dealer. The SUV was delivered on August 11,2008,but Kaur was shocked to find that the vehicles Teflon coating was still unfinished. Moreover,besides a leaky air conditioning unit,there were high levels of vibrations in the car and diesel leakage from the fuel tank drain nut. When Kaur visited the dealer to complain about the defects,she was advised to come after a week and not to use the air conditioner. Aggrieved by the indifferent attitude of the dealer,she took the vehicle to Hind Motors,where she was informed that the defects were inherent manufacturing defects that could not be repaired. Kaur said that she met the dealer about 10 times to resolve the problem,but he was misguided. In its reply,Joshi Autozone said that there was no deficiency in service and the vehicle had no manufacturing defect. The dealer also added that the complainant did not turn up to collect the refund amount of Rs 5,000. It also denied other charges made by the complainant.
