Before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Rohtak.
Complaint No. : 332
Instituted on : 27.08.2020
Decided on : 20.06.2023
Bala Devi W/o Sh. Yashpal Singh R/o H.No.96, Sector-4, Rohtak.
……….………..Complainant.
Vs.
- Regional Transport Officer, Rohtak, Office at ground floor, Mini Secretariat, Rohtak.
- State of Haryana through Deputy Commissioner, Rohtak Office at Mini Secretariat, Rohtak.
- Joshi Ventures Private Limited, Showroom at Plot No.16, Industrial Area, Phase-1, Chandigarh-160002 through its Manager.
..…….……….Opposite parties.
COMPLAINT U/S 35 OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT.
BEFORE: SH.NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT.
DR. TRIPTI PANNU, MEMBER.
DR.VIJENDER SINGH, MEMBER.
Present: Sh. Sandeep Kumar Hooda, Advocate for complainant.
Sh. Pardeep Kumar, ADA for opposite parties no. 1 and 2.
Sh. Punit Chahal, Advocate for opposite party no. 3.
ORDER
NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT:
1. Brief facts of the case as per complainant are that she had purchased a car of KIA Seltos vide sale certificate dated 30.05.2020 from Joshi Ventures Pvt. Ltd, Chandigarh. A temporary certificate of registration was issued by transport department, Chandigarh. Thereafter the complainant had contacted office of RTO, Rohtak to apply for the registration certificate of the said vehicle. But officials of the RTO Office, Rohtak had told that there is lockdown due to Pandemic Covid-19 and the public dealing was closed. The office of the opposite party no. 1 was opened for public dealing on 04.08.2020 and the complainant was able to apply for registration fee on 07.08.2020. The complainant was surprised to see the details of the registration fee as Rs.25,610/- as fine/penalty/additional fee and interest Rs.2020/-, total amounting to Rs.27,630/-. Thereafter the complainant had contacted the opposite party no. 1 regarding the penalty/fine and the interest and requested to remove the penalty/fine and interest, but the opposite party no. 1 did not pay any heed towards genuine request of 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 remove the penalty/fine of Rs.25,610/- and interest Rs.2020, total amounting Rs.27,630/- and allow the complainant to get her car register in her name. It is also prayed that opposite parties may kindly be directed to pay Rs.1,00,000/- as compensation and Rs.20,000/- as litigation expenses to the complainant.
2. After registration of complaint, notices were issued to the opposite parties. Opposite party No. 1 and 2 appeared and submitted their joint reply that The Transport Commissioner Haryana Chandigarh vide endorsement No. 60786- 61520/AT-1/ST-11 dated 28.12.2018 instructed that the dealer shall submit the online complete file of registration of new non-transport vehicle in the o/o concerned registering authority within 4 days of the date of the submission of the file by the vehicle owner alongwith required fees/taxes. The Transport Commissioner Haryana Chandigarh has submitted this letter endorsement No. 60786-61520/AT-1/ST-II dated 28.12.2018 before the Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court in a matter CWP No.17823 of 2018 in respect of revised procedure to be followed for Dealer Point Registration of new non-transport vehicles in the State. After implementation of Dealer Point Registration, the owner is not supposed to himself submit vehicle registration taxes file at the Registering Authority. All the registration related paper work including MV Taxes is done by the Dealer. The applicant purchased the vehicle on dated 30.05.2020 and applied for registration at the Registering Authority Rohtak on dated 07.08.2020. It is pertinent to mention here that the Registering Authority Rohtak remained open during the said period i.e. from 30.05.2020 (vehicle purchasing date) to 07.08.2020 (vehicle registration application date). The details of vehicle registered at Registering Authority Rohtak month-wise in as under: June 2020-982 vehicles registered at Registering Authority Rohtak July 2020-1280 vehicles registered at Registering Authority Rohtak. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and he prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
3. Opposite party no. 3 appeared and submitted its reply that the complainant had purchased vehicle from answering opposite party on 30.05.2020, by paying booking amount of Rs.25,000/-. As the vehicle was in free stock of the opposite party no. 3 on that day, the vehicle was allocated to her on the same day. The complainant transferred the full amount/invoice value of the car, in the bank account of the company. The payment was received from State Bank of India which financed the vehicle. The vehicle was invoiced on 30.05.2020 in the name of the complainant. It is further submitted that the vehicle was physically delivered to the son of the complainant on the next day on 31.05.2020 on temporary number which was valid for one month, duly written on the same, till 29.06.2020, alongwith required and related documents. On 03.06.2020 the documents Form 21, Form 22 and invoice were sent through courier to the complainant at her billing address and were confirmed to be received by the complainant on 04.06.2020. Opposite party sold the vehicle on a temporary registration number, alongwith valid sale documents, which is to be registered outside the Chandigarh, the duty lies upon the complainant to get it registered within time, and to submit those documents with the concerned registering authority of the State. There is no deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and opposite party prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
4. Ld. Counsel for the complainant in his evidence has tendered affidavit Ex. CW-1/A, documents Ex. C1 to Ex. C4 and closed the evidence vide separate statement dated 15.07.2022. On the other hand, ld. Counsel for the opposite parties no. 1 and 2 submitted that the reply filed by them be read as their affidavit and had tendered documents Ex.R-1 to Ex. R-4 and closed the evidence vide separate statement dated 24.03.2023. Ld. Counsel for the opposite party no. 3 had tendered affidavit Ex.RW-3/A, documents Ex.RW-3/1 and closed the evidence vide separate statement dated 22.02.2023.
5. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through material aspects of the case very carefully.
6. As per the complainant, he could not get his vehicle registered from the Registration Authority due to the lockdown in the country. The office of the opposite party no. 1 was opened for public dealing on 04.08.2020 and the complainant was able to apply for registration fee on 07.08.2020 and the registration authority demanded Rs.27,630/- i.e. Rs.25,610/- as fine/penalty/additional fee and Rs.2020/- as interest. On the other hand contention of the opposite party no.1 & 2 is that the Registering Authority Rohtak remained open during the said period i.e. from 30.05.2020 (vehicle purchasing date) to 07.08.2020 (vehicle registration application date) and the vehicles registered at Registering Authority Rohtak in the month of June 2020-982 vehicles and in July 2020-1280 vehicles. To prove the same opposite party No.1 & 2 has placed on record a document Ex.R3 which is a summary report of vehicle registered w.e.f. 01.07.2020 to 31.07.2020. But from this document it is not proved that these vehicles were registered through physical appearance of the parties and registered at Registering Authority Rohtak. Moreover these vehicles have been purchased by the respective purchaser in state but in the present case the vehicle in question was purchased from Chandigarh i.e. from other states of Haryana. The registration procedure from registration of vehicle coming from other states of Haryana is mentioned in Ex.C4. At point no.4 of this document, it is submitted that : “Applicant should submit file at the counter alongwith payment of fees(if not already paid) and on the spot photograph”. Meaning thereby, the file was to be submitted by the complainant at the counter of Registration Authority physically but due to lockdown in the country, the counter was closed and the complainant could not submit the file. In this regard reliance has been placed on the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in , miscellaneous application no. 21 of 2022 & 665 of 2021 in suo motu writ petition no.3 of 2020, Hon’ble Supreme Court has excluded the period from 15.03.2020 till 28.02.2022 for the purpose of limitation. From the aforesaid law it is proved that from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 there was lockdown in the country due to Covid-19. Hence the complainant could not appear before the Registration Authority during the month of July 2020. As per the complaint and affidavit filed by the complainant, the office of the opposite party no. 1 was opened for public dealing on 04.08.2020 and the complainant was able to apply for registration fee on 07.08.2020. On the other hand, opposite party No.1 & 2 has not placed on record any document to prove that office of the opposite party No.1 & 2 was opened for physical submission of file at the counter. Hence the levying of late fee/penalty and interest amounting to Rs.27630/- is illegal and opposite party is liable to waive off the same. However, at the time of arguments, ld. counsel for the complainant made a statement that the complainant had got prepared her R.C. after payment of fine amount and as such the fine amount may kindly be got refunded.
7. In view of the facts and circumstances of the case we hereby allow the complaint and direct the opposite party No.1 & 2 to refund the amount of Rs.27630/-(Rupees twenty seven thousand six hundred and thirty only) alongwith interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of deposit of alleged fine till its realization to the complainant. Opposite party no.1 & 2 are further directed to pay a sum of Rs.5000/-(Rupees five thousand only) as compensation on account of deficiency in service and Rs.5000/-(Rupees five thousand only) as litigation expenses to the complainant. Order shall be complied within one month from the date of decision.
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:
20.06.2023
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Nagender Singh Kadian, President
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Tripti Pannu, Member.
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Vijender Singh, Member
