Repair bike to give mileage as advertized

Source:- indiatimes.com

AHMEDABAD: Automobile companies should be more cautious in advertising about mileage of their vehicles. A consumer court has directed an auto company to repair and augment the mileage of a customer’s motorcycle to deliver the promise made in advertisement claims.

The court has also asked the company to refund the price of the bike, if the customer is not satisfied with the mileage even after the repairing of the two-wheeler. The company has been asked to pay an initial Rs 10,000 to the customer towards compensation for harassment.

Even after this, if the customer is not satisfied with mileage, the company will have to return Rs 52,000 with 9% interest.

A senior citizen of Rajkot city, Gunvant Mehta, purchased a TVS Jupiter by paying Rs 52,150 in September 2014 from a local showroom. The company sold the bike claiming that the model gives mileage of 62 km/litre. Mehta was not satisfied with the mileage as the bike never ran 62km/litre. Even after repeated services, the mileage did not improve.

After initial communication with the company and the showroom, Mehta moved the Rajkot District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and demanded the amount paid towards bike’s price be refunded because it did not give expected mileage. He also asked for Rs 54,000 towards petrol price as fuel consumption of the vehicle was too high.

During the hearing, the company placed a report of the bike’s mileage. In May 2015, the mileage was recorded at 43 km/litre. It was 55 km/litre in September 2015, and 65.51 km/litre, much better than the promised figure, in March 2016. Mehta took strong objection to the company’s claim of 65.51 km/litre about the bike’s mileage, and reiterated that the mileage was just 45 km/litre.

After hearing both sides, the court cited six orders passed by different consumer courts across the country on similar issues. It noted that in all these cases, the consumer courts have ordered auto companies to return the purchase price of the vehicle to customers. It also said that in not a single case pertaining to complaint of mileage, the court has ordered against the consumer.

The court asked Mehta to hand over the bike to TVS service centre for repair to augment the mileage and that the vehicle be returned with a certificate issued by the company’s general manager.