When 38-year-old Shashi Dhar Sharma bought a new bike to put an end to his travel woes, he did not know that it would be a long wobbly ride in the quest for justice.
After a five-year legal battle, Kinetic Engineering Ltd, which delivered him a defective motorcycle with shaky wheels and defunct battery, has been asked by the National Consumer Commission to refund him the cost of Rs 41,970, besides compensation of Rs 5,000.
The manufacturer had dragged Sharma from the district forum right to the National Consumer Commission and all of them upheld his claim.
The bike which Sharma bought from M/s Kanha Automobiles in R K Puram in south Delhi on July 4, 2001 wobbled during the ride right from the beginning and also had an old battery. The dealer who refused to replace the bike, also failed to rectify the defects despite numerous visits by the complainant.
"A dealer was not supposed to supply a defective motor cycle or any other vehicle with a two-year-old battery," apex forum president S N Kapoor said ordering the company to repay the amount with an interest of 9 per cent per annum.
The state forum had rejected the plea of the manufacturer that the district forum had ruled against it without obtaining technical expert opinion.
"It was for the manufacturer to produce the technical expert in support of their contention that it was not a manufacturing defect or that the battery supplied by them was not two years old. This is not only gross deficiency in service but unfair trade practice also," it said.
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