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The Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DSCDRC) ordered a car seller, T R Sawhney Motors Pvt Ltd, Lajpat Nagar, to compensate a customer who had bought a car and thus caused him anxiety, mental suffering, and pain. 

Complainant Arun Kumar asserts that he bought a Wagon-R car in April 2012, but shortly afterwards there was a snag in the speedometer of the car. The employees of the dealer next drove the car to be repaired, and in the test run, the car got into an accident. 

Upon the dealer refusing to replace the vehicle, citing the fact that its value had dropped sharply, Kumar approached the South Delhi district consumer forum, which ordered the dealer to replace the vehicle or to refund the whole purchase price. 

The dealer presented the order to an appeal, which reduced it a little at the commission level. The commission reversed the order of the district forum where the dealer was ordered to pay an amount of Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the complainant on account of harassment, mental agony, and pain and not as a full refund or replacement of the vehicle.

The case is an effective reminder that Indian consumers have recourse to strong legal protection against the inadequacy of service and carelessness of car dealers and that consumer commissions are not timid to punish them.