Ten years after his purchase of a defective car and a protracted legal battle, Jayesh T Tanna, a resident of T Nagar, would receive compensation of Rs 2.2 lakh from Toyota Kirloskar Ltd for delivering him a defective sedan.
The National Consumer Disputes Forum, New Delhi, has upheld the order of Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai, which had in 2008 confirmed the order of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai (North), in awarding compensation of Rs 2.20 lakh to him for supplying a defective Toyota Corolla and deficiencies in service.
Jayesh had filed a petition in the district forum stating that he purchased Toyota Corolla car from a dealership in Koyambedu, on August 21, 2003. When the yellow indicator lights started malfunctioning within a week, he sent the vehicle to the showroom for repair. Later, during a long-distance trip, the car engine developed a seizure.
In 2005, the manager of the service station wrote to Jayesh, blaming him for the fault. He said that the seizure was due to overheating of the engine, caused due to negligent handling. Jayesh countered, stating that it was an inherent defect of the car, and demanded compensation from the car manufacturer and dealer.
The district forum had, on October 29, 2008, directed Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd and manager of the dealership in Koyambedu to pay Jayesh a compensation of Rs 2.20 lakh. Their appeal was dismissed in the State commission, leading to their filing a review petition with the national commission.
The National bench comprising presiding member Justice V B Gupta and member Vinay Kumar dismissed the revision petition and ordered them to pay an additional Rs 10,000 for causing undue harassment to the customer.
“There is nothing on record to show that the problem had been rectified,” the Bench remarked, while adding that consent of the customer was not obtained before dismantling the engine and gear-box.