Pay back booking amount, Premier Auto told by aharashtra State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission

The Maharashtra State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission recently upheld the Pune District Forum's order of penalising Premier Automobile company for failing to refund the booking amount of a Pune-based consumer.

The consumer had paid the amount to the company in December 1993. The commission has asked the company to pay back the booking amount of Rs20,000 along with nine per cent interest on it from January 1994. The commission also directed the company to pay an additional amount of Rs10,000 and Rs5,000 towards mental agony and legal expense respectively.

The case dates back to 1993, when deceased Narsinh Shinde had approached the Mumbai-based company and had booked a car, by paying a draft of Rs20,000 on December 30, 1993. However, for certain reasons, the booking was cancelled and the complainant had demanded back the booking amount along with interest. But the company refused to pay back any money.

In 1998, the complainant had approached the Pune District Forum and registered a complaint against the company. The district consumer forum had pulled up the company for its faulty services and directed it to pay back the booking amount along with 20 per cent interest on it.

However, in order to challenge the district court's order with regard to the interest rate, the company had approached the state consumer commission. As the complainant is a deceased, the commission directed the company to pay the amount to the complainant's children.