Car dealer to pay Rs 1 lakh for not issuing sale papers

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Joshi Autozone in Industrial Area to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation for the mental and physical harassment...

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Joshi Autozone in Industrial Area to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation for the mental and physical harassment a complainant had to go through after they failed to issue him the sales certificate of a car. The car dealers have also been directed to pay Rs 5,500 as costs of litigation.

Arvind Singh stated in his complaint that he had purchased a Tata Indigo in October 2007 for Rs 5,22,000 but was not issued a sales certificate of the vehicle.

He said the certificate was to be sent to him after 15 days. He, however, never got it despite repeated requests. It was also averred that because of the non-availability of the sales certificate, he could not get the car registered and thus, could not use it.

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Joshi Auto Zone stated that at the time of purchase of the car and issuance of invoice, there were certain formalities which were left incomplete by the complainant, like residence proof and PAN identification number and were given only after reminders. It also stated that the sale certificate was sent through post.

The forum said: “It is necessary under the rules and law that the sale letter should have accompanied the vehicle when it comes out of the workshop on account of its sale to the complainant.”

Andhra Bank to refund service tax on loan, pay compensation
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Andhra Bank to refund Rs 9,562 imposed as service tax on a loan. The bank has also been directed to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation. The complainant, Shakuntala Malik, had taken a house loan of Rs 10 lakh from the bank in 2004, which was to be repaid in 60 equated monthly installments (EMIs) of Rs 19,920 starting from May 2004.
After repaying 35 EMIs, the complainant decided to clear the outstanding loan by making a lumpsum payment and made a request towards the same. The bank then asked her to pay Rs 1,47,747, which included service tax and the pre-payment or administrative charges. The complainant made the payment as she was in a hurry and had to leave for the USA, but questioned the imposition of the service tax and moved the forum.
The bank, in its reply, said they had levied the service tax according to the prevailing rate in nationalised banks.
The forum said the bank was not authorised to levy the pre-payment or administrative charges as these instructions were issued on May 5, 2005, whereas the loan was sanctioned in April 2004.