GM to pay Rs 3 lakh as damages for defective car

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Save & Share Article

What’s this?

Digg	My Yahoo	Fark
del.icio.us	Newsvine	Reddit

Rate This Article

Rating:  9

General Motors (GM) has been asked by the Delhi Consumer Commission to pay Rs three lakh in compensation to the widow of an advocate, who was sold a defective car, drawing him into a legal hassle till his death.

Ruling that the manufacturer is liable for sale of defective goods, the Commission presided by Justice J D Kapoor asked the GM’s Indian subsidiary to pay damages to the widow of G L Sanghi, whose car malfunctioned from the day of purchase itself.

Sanghi was not even delivered the original keys of his brand new car which he had purchased on December two, 1996 from GM’s local dealer Regent Automobiles in New Delhi, forcing him to send repeated requests for it. He received the original key only after eight months, the complaint had said.

Sanghi, a south-Delhi resident, also found a number of defects in his car, including low mileage and engine overheating, which made driving uncomfortable, it said.

As many as 16 letters were sent by Sanghi to the automaker and the dealer enumerating the defects in the car, but the defects were not rectified.

Sanghi had filed a consumer case in 1998 but after his death in January 2006, his family members sold the car.

GM denied any manufacturing defect in its car and contended the troubles experienced by Sanghi were owing to his driving style.

The Commission also comprising Members G D Dhanuka and Rumnita Mittal, however, found no substance in automaker’s claim and held it guilty of deficiency in service for manufacturing and selling a defective vehicle.