Panel Orders Dealer To Pay 1 Lakh To Zirakpur Man Over Sale Of Damaged Car

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mohali, has directed Ola Fleet Technologies and Shahwar Motives to pay ₹1 lakh compensation and ₹3,860 towards third-party insurance charges to a Zirakpur resident after finding that they sold him a car that had previously met with accidents.

The commission passed the order on a complaint filed by Manish Kumar of Dhakoli, Zirakpur, who purchased a pre-owned Maruti Brezza for ₹5.90 lakh from the opposite parties on April 29, 2022.

According to the complaint, the car covered 65,991 km when Manish purchased it. He said the sellers assured him that the vehicle had not met with an accident and that its odometer had not been tampered with.

The complainant later took the vehicle to DD Motors, a Maruti authorised service centre in Delhi, on July 24, 2022. The service records showed that the vehicle had visited the centre in January 2022, when its odometer reading was around 90,000 km and repairs worth about ₹70,000 had been carried out following an accident. He was also informed that the vehicle had met with two accidents.

Manish then contacted Ola Fleet Technologies and sought replacement of the vehicle or a refund of the purchase price. During email exchanges, the company offered him compensation, first stating that ₹30,000 had been approved and later offering ₹50,000. The complainant rejected the offer.

The commission noted that Ola’s right to file a written statement had been struck off after it failed to submit it within the prescribed 45-day period. Shahwar Motives did not appear before the commission and was proceeded against ex-parte.

Ola argued in its written submissions that it only facilitated the connection between sellers and buyers and was not involved in the sale. However, the commission noted that the company itself offered compensation to Manish over the dispute.

The commission partly allowed the complaint and directed Ola Fleet Technologies and Shahwar Motives to jointly pay ₹1 lakh as compensation for sale of the accidental vehicle, mental agony, harassment and litigation expenses.

They were also directed to refund ₹3,860, which had been paid towards third-party insurance charges.