It was shocking to note that the Hindustan Motors, one of the most well known automobile houses in India, has been fined for selling a defective Mitsubishi Lancer car.

The state consumer commission has asked the company to pay the car owner Rs. 11.75 Lakh along with the refund amount within a month or the vehicle should be replaced. The commission noted that the engine, which is the heart of the car, had a manufacturing defect and rejected the company’s appeal that no other defects were found on the car.

On reading the article on the website, as a car owner myself, I suddenly felt vulnerable to car maker’s mercy. It is not always that we check the car completely when purchasing a car, and take the manufacturer and dealers word as truth. In this case the manufacturer would have earned golden points if the defective car was replaced immediately with a new one. But Indian auto makers still want to take a consumer for a ride.

For every petitioner like Ravinder Pal Singh, there are thousands who cannot fight the big auto companies and would rather choose the easiest way out. With the economy going at the current rate, thousands of cars will roll out of manufacturer sites every year and it would be nice if they gave immediate remedies to consumer woes. But, I think this is asking for too much.

Article submitted by Radhakrishnan