Selling old model vehicle as new costs Mohali dealer ₹4 lakh

Complainant submitted that the vehicle’s model was 2015 and not 2016, as claimed by the dealer at the time of purchase

Terming it guilty of malpractice by selling a 2015-model vehicle with a 2016 tag to a Zirakpur resident, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mohali, on Thursday penalised a Mohali-based automobile dealer.

In their response, the vehicle manufacturer and dealer denied the allegations. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Bhambra Force Motors, Phase 6, was directed to pay a compensation of ₹4 lakh to the complainant, Gurdeep Singh, a resident of Dhakoli, Zirakpur.

In his complaint, Singh had submitted that he had bought a transport vehicle from Bhambra Force Motors for ₹12.96 lakh in 2016.

But after receiving the vehicle’s registration certificate and the contract carriage permit issued by the State Transport Authority, he was shocked to find that the vehicle’s model was 2015 and not 2016, as claimed by the dealer at the time of purchase.

In their response, the manufacturer and dealer of the vehicle denied the allegations. Claiming no deficiency in service or mala fide intention, they prayed for dismissal of the complaint.

But the commission, led by president Sanjeev Dutt Sharma, imposed a penalty of ₹4 lakh on the dealer, observing, “Heavy compensation is imposed to refrain such type of dealers from indulging in such type of malpractice and to save innocent customers.”