District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Chandigarh: Car firm, dealership to pay Rs 15K to man for not repairing vehicle under extended warranty

The complainant alleged that he told the dealership that he has extended warranty of the vehicle from February 24, 2019, to February 24, 2022. Accordingly, he submitted a request on the same day, July 31, 2019, but the same was rejected by the Datsun India Limited and Nissan Motor India Private without verifying the service record of the vehicle from the complainant on flimsy ground that service record is not OK. The complainant always got service of the said vehicle done from the dealership. The complainant issued a legal notice dated August 9, 2019 to the car company and its dealership.

The Datsun India Limited and Nissan Motor India Private in reply submitted that the complainant has nowhere alleged any manufacturing defect or any deficiency of service on behalf of them. As per their knowledge, the dealer has been assisting the customer in giving prompt service even when the car developed problems due to negligent and mishandling on the part of the complainant. The vehicle is around two years old and only driven about 40,000 kilometres. The shockers can develop problems in two years only if the car is driven in a reckless and negligent manner, disregarding the potholes and other contours of the roads which require the driver to drive at slow speed and with caution. The full benefit of the warranty is not given as the customer has violated the service conditions and the service due at 30,000 kilometres has not been done by the authorised service centre but the customer got it done by some outside agency.

The dealership, Joshi Auto Wheels, in reply submitted that the vehicle in question was sold subject to conditions of warranty and its sole obligation is to replace the defective parts when it acknowledges any faulty workmanship. The warranty shall be applicable at the option of the respondents and be limited to either repair of goods supplied or the replacement of parts which it recognises as defective.

After hearing the plea, the commission observed, “…It is an admitted fact that the complainant had extended warranty period for the vehicle in question for more three years. As per the documents, the warranty starts from February 24, 2019 till February 24, 2022. Meaning thereby, it was obligatory for the OPs to conduct service/repairs during this warranty period free of cost … The service record placed on by the OPs indicates that the complainant used to get the vehicle repaired or the required service done from the OP’s authorised service centre …”

The commission ordered Datsun India Limited and Nissan Motor India Private, and Joshi Auto Wheels, to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 as cost of litigation to the complainant.