Before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Rohtak.
Complaint No. : 538
Instituted on : 05.11.2018.
Decided on : 07.04.2023
Digvijay Jakhar age-38 years S/o Sh. Khushi Ram, R/o A-92, Preet Vihar, Rohtak-124001
……….………..Complainant.
Vs.
- Dahar Toll Plaza, On NH71A(New709), National Highways Authority of India, Rohtak-Panipat Tollway Pvt. Ltd.Village Dahar.Through its Manager.
- M/s GMR Ambala Chandigarh Expressways Pvt. Ltd. Dappar Toll Plaza(Old NH-22). Through its Manager.
- National Highways Authority of India(NHAI), G-5&6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075. Through its Director.
..…….……….Opposite parties.
COMPLAINT U/S 12 OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT,1986.
BEFORE: SH.NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT.
DR. TRIPTI PANNU, MEMBER.
DR.VIJENDER SINGH, MEMBER.
Present: Sh. Jitender Singh, Advocate for the complainant.
Opposite party No. 1 already exparte vod 10.08.2022.
Sh. Anil Sharma, Advocate for opposite party No. 2.
Sh. N.K.Singhal, Advocate for opposite party No. 3.
ORDER
NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN PRESIDENT:
1. Brief facts of the case as per complainant are that on 31.10.2018, he went to Chandigarh on his personal car bearing registration No. HR12W5653 via Dahar and Dappar Toll Plaza. He paid Rs.130/- and Rs.55/- through online transaction and the opposite party generated the ticket Nos. 51529887, 1004413438 for return journey. The said toll road has deep craters and huge cracks and cow dung cakes were also on road side and many illegal cuts with damaged dividers, toll employee/authorized persons were pouring water in plants over the divider without using any safe guards and always inviting an accidents. Dappar toll having incomplete toll road. Many diversion with one way traffic and the condition of the washrooms were worst, stinking and no door was there at toilet. Further the toll road was not well maintained alongwith basic facilities by the opposite parties. The wheel alignment and balancing of the vehicle got damaged and the opposite parties are totally liable for all the losses, whereas they are bound to keep the toll road well maintained as per norms of NHAI and the opposite parties are totally liable for it. It is further submitted that opposite party no. 1 and 2 is the officials of the National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) for the daily collection of toll road charges and the opposite party no. 3 is the National Highways Authority of India(NHAI), under which the said toll roads come. So, all the opposite parties are responsible and bound to provide the good road alongwith basic facilities and are bound jointly or severally to get compensate the complainant’s said loss. The material used by the said toll road authority is defective, inferior and very poor quality, which is below the standard norms of NHAI. The complainant made several requests to opposite parties to pay the wheel alignment and balancing charges alongwith other losses but the opposite parties did not pay any heed towards the genuine requests of the complainant. As such, the act and conduct of the opposite parties is illegal and amounts to deficiency in service. Hence this complaint and it is prayed that opposite parties may kindly be directed to make the payment of tyre, wheel alignment & balancing charges and also the toll receipt payment Rs.130/- and Rs.55/- alongwith interest @18% per annum from the date of billing to till its actual realization. It is further submitted that opposite parties may kindly be directed to pay Rs.11,000/- as litigation charges and Rs.70,000/- as compensation and harassment to the complainant.
2. After registration of complaint, notices were issued to the opposite parties. Opposite party no. 1 appeared and filed its reply stating therein that it is denied that the said toll road has deep craters, huge cracks, cow dung cakes were also on road side, many illegal cuts with damaged dividers which is inviting an accident. It is further submitted that the answering opposite party no. 1 fulfills all the norms and guidelines issued by NHAI time to time regarding road safety, NHAI gave NOC regarding toll collection after inspecting the toll road properly and to fulfill all the necessary conditions. Opposite party no. 1 gave a tender to separately independent agency regarding plantations on road and the employees of the opposite party no. 1 inspects the same time to time. No illegal cuts, deep craters, huge cracks and cow dung cakes were present over the road. It is also submitted that there is no question of wheel alignment and balancing of vehicle due to road of opposite party no. 1. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and opposite party no.1 prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
3. Opposite party no. 2 appeared and filed its written statement stating therein that it is wrong to allege that the toll road at toll plaza of the answering opposite party has deep craters and huge cracks and cow dung cakes were also on road side and there were many illegal cuts with damaged dividers and the employees were pouring water in plants over dividers without using any safety guards inviting accidents. It is also wrong that the road was not well maintained alongwith basic facilities by opposite party and wheel alignment and balancing of the vehicle of complainant got damaged. It is further submitted that the opposite party no. 2 is not entity/official of NHAI i.e. opposite party no. 3 and is a separate body altogether. It is wrong that the complainant has made several requests to the answering opposite party to pay the alleged charges of wheel alignment and balancing charges alongwith other losses. It is further submitted that the complainant has not mentioned in which area the alleged damages to wheel alignment and balancing occurred. It is also submitted that the project road was constructed as per the specifications prescribed under the concession agreement entered into between the answering opposite party and NHAI and the project road continuously remains under strict supervision and inspection by the NHAI authorities. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and opposite party no. 2 prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs. Opposite party no. 3 appeared and filed its written statement submitting therein that complainant has made false averments without mentioning the KM stone number between which he had faced alleged difficulties or irregularities. National Highways are being maintained as per the concessionaire agreement by the executing agencies and they are under contractual obligation to operate and maintain the respective Highway. It is further submitted that opposite party no. 1 and 2 are not officials of NHAI. It is further submitted that quality audits are also done by the quality auditors from time to time. No service has been provided by the answering opposite party to the complainant so there is no deficiency of service on the part of answering opposite party. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and opposite party no. 3 prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
3. Ld. counsel for the complainant in his evidence has tendered affidavit Ex.CW1/A, documents Ex.C1 to Ex.C14 and has closed his evidence on dated 26.04.2022. Ld. Counsel for the opposite party no. 2 has tendered affidavit Ex.RW-2/A, documents Ex.R-1 to R-5 and has closed his evidence on dated 07.09.2022. Ld. Counsel for the opposite party no. 3 has tendered affidavit Ex. RW-3/A and has closed his evidence on dated 26.04.2022. Ld. Counsel for the opposite party No. 1 did not appear before the court and as such, opposite party No. 1 proceeded against exparte vide order dated 10.08.2022 of this Commission.
4. We have heard learned counsel for the complainant and have gone through material aspects of the case very carefully.
5. As per the complainant, he visited the Dahar and Dappar Toll road on 31.10.2018. He leveled the allegations against the opposite parties that there are deep craters and huge cracks on the toll road, cow dung cakes were also on road side and many illegal cuts with damaged dividers, toll employee/authorized persons were pouring water in plants over the divider without using any safe guards and always inviting an accidents. Dapper toll having incomplete toll road, having many diversion with one way traffic and the condition of the washrooms were worst, stinking and no door was there at toilet. Further the toll road was not well maintained alongwith basic facilities by the opposite parties. Due to which the wheel alignment and balancing of the car got damaged. Through this complaint, he has sought the payment of tyre, wheel alignment & balancing alongwith compensation from the opposite parties.
6. We have perused the documents placed on record by both the parties.. Regarding deep craters and huge cracks on the toll road, no such expert report is placed on record. Merely photocopies of photographs have been placed on record by the complainant. These photographs could not ascertain that road was in damaged conditions or there are deep craters and cracks on the alleged road. These photocopies of photographs shows the normal wear and tear on the road. Moreover as per the receipt Ex.C1, complainant had paid the toll charges on 31.10.2018 and the bill of tyre, wheel alignment and wheel balancing is dated 13.11.2018. Had there been any defect in the tyre and wheel balancing etc. the same should have been checked immediately and not after 13 days. As per bill Ex.C1, one tyre was purchased by the complainant on dated 13.11.2018 but it is not submitted in the complaint that the tyre of car of complainant has been burst due to alleged defects in the road.
7. In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, it is observed that complainant has failed to establish any deficiency in service on the part of opposite parties. As such present complaint stands dismissed with no order as to costs.
8. Copy of this order be supplied to both the parties free of costs. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.
Announced in open court:
07.04.2023
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Nagender Singh Kadian, President
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Tripti Pannu, Member.
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Vijender Singh, Member
