The Namakkal District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) on Thursday ordered a car dealer to pay a compensation of ₹4 lakh for cheating a customer.
M. Sekar, a resident of Natarajapuram in Namakkal, saw a post on an app regarding a used car for sale in Madurai in March 2017. Believing this, Shekhar met a car dealer named Sudarshan in Madurai.
Mr. Shekhar purchased a car from him at a cost of ₹ 2.81 lakh. Later, while going to Namakkal after covering a distance of 20 km from Madurai, the car needed repairs. When he alerted the car dealer, the latter sent a car mechanic to take the car to Madurai, and promised to hand over the vehicle to Mr. Sekar after repairs.
But, there was no response from the car dealer even though Mr. Sekar contacted them several times. Later, he sent a legal notice to the car dealer to hand over the car. But, Sudarshan asks them to pay the repair charges. Subsequently, in 2019, Mr. Sekar filed a case at the Namakkal DCDRC.
While hearing the petition, Commission Chairman V. Ramraj said in his order that the action of the car dealer proves unfair trade practice. Therefore, the car dealer should pay ₹2.81 lakh with 9% interest, ₹1 lakh for mental agony and ₹19,000 as case expenses to Mr. Sekar within four weeks.