Order No. 9 dt. 04/02/2019
The case of the complainant in brief is that the complainant for purchasing a truck made contact with o.p. being a financial company for having the finance for purchasing the truck and accordingly, an agreement was entered into between the parties and o.ps. released the amount. It was agreed that the complainant would have to pay Rs.6,32,727/- in 34 installments. The complainant paid 30 installments and all on a sudden o.p. without any notice to the complainant took possession of the vehicle for which the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.ps. for releasing the vehicle in his favour as well as prayed for compensation and litigation.
The o.ps. contested this case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations of the complaint. It was stated that in the agreement itself the complainant agreed to pay the installments, but he failed to pay the installments for which o.ps. informed the complainant by a letter and the same was replied by the complainant whereby the complainant agreed to pay 50% of the amount, but unfortunately the said letter was sent to o.ps. after taking possession of the vehicle. Since the complainant did not comply the terms and conditions of the agreement entered into between the parties, therefore, o.ps. had no other alternative but to take possession of the vehicle. It has also been stated by o.ps. that relating to the said matter an arbitration proceeding is going on and the complainant is contesting the said case. In view of such fact o.ps. prayed for dismissal of the case.
On the basis of the pleadings of parties the following points are to be decided:
- Whether the complainant took loan from o.ps. for purchasing the vehicle?
- Whether the complainant paid the installments as per the terms of the agreement?
- Whether there was any deficiency in service on the part of o.ps.?
- Whether the complainant will be entitled to get the relief as prayed for?
Decision with reasons:
All the points are taken up together for the sake of brevity and avoidance of repetition of facts.
Ld. lawyer for the complainant argued that the complainant for purchasing a truck made contact with o.p. being a financial company for having the finance for purchasing the truck and accordingly, an agreement was entered into between the parties and o.ps. released the amount. It was agreed that the complainant would have to pay Rs.6,32,727/- in 34 installments. The complainant paid 30 installments and all on a sudden o.p. without any notice to the complainant took possession of the vehicle for which the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.ps. for releasing the vehicle in his favour as well as prayed for compensation and litigation.
Ld. lawyer for the o.ps. argued that in the agreement itself the complainant agreed to pay the installments, but he failed to pay the installments for which o.ps. informed the complainant by a letter and the same was replied by the complainant whereby the complainant agreed to pay 50% of the amount, but unfortunately the said letter was sent to o.ps. after taking possession of the vehicle. Since the complainant did not comply the terms and conditions of the agreement entered into between the parties, therefore, o.ps. had no other alternative but to take possession of the vehicle. It has also been stated by o.ps. that relating to the said matter an arbitration proceeding is going on and the complainant is contesting the said case. In view of such fact o.ps. prayed for dismissal of the case.
Considering the submissions of the respective parties it is an admitted fact that the complainant entered into the agreement with o.p. for purchasing a vehicle and at the time of receiving the finance by o.p. the complainant entered into an agreement with them. In the agreement itself it was mentioned that the complainant will have to liquidate the loan amount by paying 34 installments and the complainant has admittedly paid 30 installments and since he failed to pay the remaining 4 installments o.ps. asked the complainant to pay the balance amount of installments. But the complainant did not abide by the request of o.ps. for which o.ps. had to take possession of the vehicle. It appears from the materials on record that the total amount as claimed by o.ps. to the tune of Rs.1,10,659/- for releasing the vehicle and subsequently o.ps. sent another letter demanding an amount of Rs.1,36,727/-. The complainant did not pay the balance amount in spite of receiving the said letter. It appears from the materials on record that in spite of repeated requests by o.ps. the complainant failed to pay the balance amount and subsequently after taking possession of the vehicle the complainant filed this case. In this respect there are several judgments passed by Hon’ble National Commission to the effect that so long the vehicle is hypothecated to the finance company, the finance company is the owner of the vehicle and after the payment of the entire dues the owner of the vehicle will be the actual owner of the same. In view of such position since the complainant paid 30 installments out of 34 installments and he has suffered financial loss due to taking possession of the vehicle by o.ps. and it appears from the materials on record that the complainant himself is a driver and being the poor driver cum owner of the vehicle he should pay the balance installment amount i.e. Rs.80,350/- and also to pay further amount of Rs.10,000/- for the incidental expenses incurred by o.ps. for taking possession of the vehicle and after payment of the said amount within one month from the date of communication of this order the vehicle is to be released by o.ps. in favour of the complainant without making any further demand of the amount from the complainant.
Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.
Hence, ordered,
That the CC No.195/2018 is allowed on contest without cost against the o.ps. The o.ps. are jointly and/or severally directed to release the vehicle in question in favour of the complainant after receiving the balance amount of Rs.80,350/- (Rupees eighty thousand three hundred fifty) only and also incidental expenses of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand) only from the complainant within 30 days from the date of communication of this order.
