BEFORE THE PRESIDENT, DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, SAMBALPUR

C.C NO-24/2018

Present-Sri Dipak Kumar Mahapatra, President, Smt. Smita Tripathy,Member (W).

Bhagaban Behera,

Occupation-Advocate,

S/O- Shakti Behera,

At-Fatak,,Malipada,P.o-Budharaja,P.S-Ainthapali,

Dist-Sambalpur                                                                                             …..Complainant

Vrs.

Sri Shyam Motors,

(Authorised Dealer for Hero Motocorp Ltd)

N.H-6,Baraipali,Sambalpur-768004.                                                           ……O.P

Counsels:-

1. For the Complainant:-    Sri R.P. Pradhan, Advocate & Associates.
2. For the O.P           :-          Sri S.K.Mishra,Advocate & Associates.

DATE OF HEARING : 08.03.2021, DATE OF ORDER : 12.04.2021

SRI DIPAK KUMAR MAHAPATRA,PRESIDENT:-Brief facts of the case is that the Complainant has purchased a Motorcycle HERO HF DELUXE vide engine no-HA11ENJGA11601 and chassis no-MBLHAP209JGA13309 on dtd.05.02.2018 on payment of Rs.46,693/-. The Complainant paid Rs.5,822/- that is Rs.3,870/- towards Registration fees and Rs.1952 towards Insurance and issued a receipt. After registration the Complainant was issued with a computer generated bill from where he came to know that the total registration fees including the Tax was Rs.3,167/- as such the O.P has taken Rs.703 in excess.  In case of Insurance premium the O.P has taken Rs.95/-extra as the Insurance Premium was Rs. 1,857/- but O.P taken Rs. 1,952/- which is unfair trade practice.  The Complainant reaching at the O.P claimed the extra amount taken but the O.P did not listen which caused financial loss, harassment, and metal agony to the Complainant.  The cause of action arose on dtd. 05.02.2018. The Complainant prays for return of Rs.703/- and Rs.95/- towards registration and insurance respectively and compensation of Rs.15,000/- and cost of litigation Rs.5,000/-.

As per the O.P the amount of Rs.703/- taken in excess to the registration fees by the direction of the Odisha Govt. a sum of Rs.700/- was deposited against the vehicle for trade certificate before the RTA Sambalpur.  Again the O.P is charging Rs.98 against all the registration and insurance as the O.P has appointed a staff to look after the matter of Insurance and Registration. The O.Ps claims that all the allegations made in the petitions are false and to grab money from the O.P hence the case shall be dismissed with heavy cost.

As the case is a “YEAR OLD CASE”, this Commission has rightly decided to dispose the case on merit basis.

POINTS OF DETERMINATION:-

1. Whether the Complainant is comes under the purview of Consumer Protection Act-2019?
2. Whether the O.Ps has committed any Deficiency in Service to the Complainant?

From the above discussion and materials available on records we inferred that the Complainant comes under the purview of Consumers as he has purchase a new Motorcycle HERO HF DELUXE vide engine no-HA11ENJGA11601 and chassis no-MBLHAP209JGA13309 on dtd.05.02.2018 on payment of Rs.46,693/-. Rules 33 to 46 in Chapter III of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 relate to trade certificates. A trade certificate allows a dealer to receive exemption from registering the motor vehicle owned by the vehicle owner. A dealer cannot sell a motor vehicle to another purchaser without the vehicle's temporary or permanent registration. Hence the Charges towards the Trade Certificate needs to be borne by the Dealer as it is for the benefit of himself and the Customer should not be asked to pay for it. Similarly, under clause (d) of rule 41, the holder of a trade certificate may use a vehicle in a public place for proceeding to or returning from the premises of the dealer or of the purchaser for the purpose of deliver and for a reasonable trial or demonstration to a prospective purchaser, for proceeding to and from any place for the registration of the vehicle. Again the O.P has charged Rs.98/- for handling charges against all the registration and insurance as he has appointed a staff to look after the matter of Insurance and Registration. In the case of Manish Kumar Goyal vs Dada Motors on 21 April, 2017 the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission,Punjab, Chandigarh has contended that the dealer cannot charge logistic charges unless is authorised under the provisions of law.  It is the duty of the dealer to inform and explain to the consumer that in addition to the price of the vehicle quoted, he will have to pay the other charges like handling, loading, unloading and logistics charges. Charging for Trade Certificate and handling charges in an arbitrary manner clearly amounts to adoption of unfair trade practice and the charges have been charged in an unauthorized and illegal manner rather it can be said that overcharging is nothing but hidden charges. Hence we order as under:-