Haryana

StateCommission

CC/15/2015

SURESH KUMAR YADAV - Complainant(s)

Versus

GENERAL MOTORS - Opp.Party(s)

M.S.RANDHAWA

12 May 2017

ORDER

STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION HARYANA, PANCHKULA

                                               

                                      Complaint Case No.15 of 2015

                                                         Date of Institution:09.02.2015                                    Date of Decision: 12.05.2017

 

Suresh Kumar Yadav S/o Sh.Prikchit Singh Yadav, resident of House No.168, Phase-I, HUDA Colony, Narnaul, District Mohindergarh.

                                                …Complainant

 

Versus

 

1.      General Motors, Block-B, Chandrapura, Industrial Estate, Palol, district Panchmahals, Gujrat.

2.      Aravali Auto through its Manager, Plot No.66, IDC Mehrauli Road, Gurgaon (Haryana).

                                                …Opposite parties

 

 

CORAM:   Mr. R.K. Bishnoi, Judicial Member

                   Mrs. Urvashi Agnihotri, Member

 

Present:     Mr. M.S.Randhawa, Advocate for the complainant.

Mr.C.H.Yadav, Advocate for the opposite party No.1.

Mr. Ashish Rawal, Advocate for opposite party No.2.

 

                                       O R D E R

 

R.K. BISHNOI, JUDICIAL MEMBER

 

                   As per complainant he purchased this car from opposite party No.2 (in short ‘OP’) for a consideration of Rs.25,45,765/- on 19.12.2012 which was manufactured by OP No.1. On 07.02.2013 his car met with an accident and was badly damaged from front side. Despite accident air bags did not open and he had a narrow escaped. It was a clear manufacturing defect, so OPs be directed to refund price of the car besides compensation to the tune of Rs.15,000/-, as alleged in the complaint.

2.  OPs filed reply controverting his averments and alleged that there was no manufacturing defect in the car. When car met with an accident on 16.02.2013 it was not head on collusion and that is why air bags did not deploy. Sensors inside the car were duly intact. During inspection mechanization of air bags was found intact. As per manual, air bags will inflate when there is direct impact from front side which described as under:-

     “How air bags work

Air bags are designed to keep your head neck and chest from slamming into the instrument panel steering wheel or wind shield in a front-end crash. They are not designed to inflate in rear-end or rollover crashes or in most side-impact crashes. Your air bags are designed to deploy in     crashes that are equivalent to or exceed the force of a vehicle travelling at a speed of 15 to 23 Km/s crashing into a solid immovable wall.

The air bag system activates during a severe collision which is either frontal or when the impact angel is up to 30 degree from straight ahead.

This crash severity level at which the air bag will deploy was selected to assure inflation or air bags in our vehicles at or below the crash severity at which a statistical risk or death begins for frontal collisions.

In the real world, cars rarely crash squarely into immovable walls; air bags most often deploy when a vehicle collides with another vehicle. The actual speed at which the air bags will inflate may be higher in the real world, because real world accidents usually involve more complicated multi vehicle impacts, angled impacts, and incomplete frontal impacts (e.g. side-swipes), and because the object struck is usually not immovable. Air bags inflate when a sensor detects a front-end crash of a severity sufficient for air deployment. The crash sensor sends an electric signal to initiate the air bag’s inflation. A propellant is ignited which rapidly burns inside the air bags module, producing enough nitrogen gas to fully inflate the air bag. The chemical process and nitrogen gas are harmless to the vehicle occupants. Within 0.045 seconds of the crash detection, the pressure of the inflating air bag splits open the plastic trim covering on the module, which is scored on the inside surface to allow the trim of the steering wheel hub or passenger-side instrument panel to split open under force.

The air bag fully inflates to create a surface that can catch the forward movement of the front occupant’s head and upper torso. As the occupant comes into contact with the air bag, the gas in the bag empties through holes at the base of the bag to soak up the force from the occupant’s forward movement. The entire process, from initial contact through the air bag’s inflation and deflation, occurs within 0.2 seconds, faster than the blink of an eye. Because the collision is cover in a fraction of a second, and vehicles involved in an accident usually come to the final point of rest only one or two seconds after initial contact the supplemental restraint system must sense the crash and cause the air bags to deploy nearly instantaneously to protect the vehicle’s occupants.”

 

There is no expert report about manufacturing defect. The car was not under warranty because it had already met with two major accidents. Complainant was not covered by deficiency of consumer. Other averments were also denied and requested to dismiss complaint.

3.                In addition thereto OP No.2 alleged that it is only authorized dealer of Chevrolet Sales India Pvt. Ltd .(CSIPL) and is not having any concern with OP No.1. The air bags will not open due to impact on windows and only open when there is frontal impact. During inspection of vehicle it was found that there was no direct impact due to which air bags might not have opened. Even after accident this vehicle is being plied and has covered more than 43502 KMs in the month of February, 2015. Objections about accruing cause of action, maintainability of complaint etc. were also raised and requested to dismiss the complaint.

4.                All the parties led evidence.

5.                Arguments heard by us. File perused.

6.               Learned counsel for complainant vehemently argued that the bags did not open even after accident on 07.02.2013 and it is also clear from the perusal of photographs Ex.P-5 and Ex.P-6. So, it is manufacturing defect and OPs are liable to refund the sale price alongwith interest and other reliefs as mentioned in the complaint.

7.                This argument is devoid of any force. As per subscriptions and manual pertaining to this vehicle air bags open if there is direct impact on front side at the speed  of 15-23Kms. per hour into immoveable object. As per photograph Ex.OP-2 it is clear that it was not front side accident and was hit from the side. Bumper etc. were clearly intact in these photographs. When car did not hit any immoveable object at the speed of 15-25 Kms. per hour, the bags were not supposed to open. This fact is clearly mentioned in warranty book Ex.OP-3. When complainant entered witness box as PW-1 it was stated by him that after hitting tree, car jumped in the air and fell down. He has not produced any photograph of the place of accident or DDR lodged by him. So, in these circumstances, it cannot be presumed that air bags did not inflate/deploy due to manufacturing defect. More so, complainant has not produced any expert witness to prove this fact. As per opinion of Hon’ble National Commission expressed in Tata Motors Ltd. Vs. Anurag Sehgal & Anr. 2012 (4) CPJ 75 and Hira Lal Vs. MGF Toyota Gurgaon Capital Vehicles Sales Ltd. 2013(3) CPJ 28, in the absence of expert report it cannot be presumed that there was manufacturing defect.

8.                As a sequel of abovesaid discussion, it is clear that complainant has failed to show that there was any manufacturing defect in the vehicle in question. So, OPs cannot be directed to refund the price of same as requested by him. Resultantly, complaint fails and the same is hereby dismissed.

 

May 12^th, 2017                      Urvashi Agnihotri                  R.K. Bishnoi

                                                Member                                   Judicial Member

                                                Addl. Bench                          Addl. Bench

 

R.K