'Selling of used demo car without the knowledge of the customer amounts to an unfair trade practice within the Consumer Protection Act,' the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said.
Premier luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz and one of its Chennai-based dealers have been ordered by the national consumer commission to pay Rs2 lakh as damages to a customer for selling him a used demo car.
"Selling of used demo car without the knowledge of the customer amounts to an unfair trade practice within the Consumer Protection Act," the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) said.
"Any false representation of rebuilt, second-hand, renovated, reconditioned or old goods as new goods, for the purposes of promoting sale thereof, amounts to an unfair trade practice and the victim deserves to be compensated," the NCDRC bench of Justice RK Batta and member Vinay Kumar said while ordering compensation.
The NCDRC gave its ruling on a complaint by a private firm executive, Mukund Reddy, who purchased a Mercedes Benz car of E 250D model from its dealer Trans Cars India Ltd, Chennai in 1998.
Shortly after purchase of the car, Reddy, managing partner of Chennai-based Techno Mukund constructions, noticed bubbles all over the body of the vehicle and discolouration on the doors and rear hatch back, from where the paint began peeling off, while the car stereo also began malfunctioning.
It was later learnt by him that it was a used car which had met with an accident necessitating complete repairs and painting. The complainant asked the dealer and the company office in Pune, Maharashtra, through correspondence, to replace the car with a new one since it was a case of deficiency in service.
The commission, however, held "complaints in relation to the paint of the car and the music system have been appropriately attended to through repainting and replacement of the music system, without any cost to the complainant," and so it was not a case of deficiency in service.
The apex forum also refused to order replacement of old car with new one, saying, "It is not a case of a vehicle suffering from such manufacturing defects as would make it unusable. Admittedly, the vehicle has already been used for over 1.85 lakh km."
It also refused to accept the contention that since the car was sold to Reddy's commercial firm, Techno Mukund Constructions, and has been used for commercial purpose, it did not fall under the definition of 'consumer' under the Consumer Protection Act.
The bench held that the car was actually being used by the firm's managing partner Reddy for coming and going to the workplace and not for any activity directly connected with commercial purpose of earning profit.
Holding it as a case of complainant being a victim of unfair trade practice, the apex consumer forum directed Mercedes Benz India and its dealer to pay up Rs2 lakh as compensation.
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