A vehicle buyer who was overcharged found relief after the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission enhanced his compensation tenfold.
The Commission was dealing with an appeal filed by D. Sreedhar Reddy (60), a resident of Nerada in Nalgonda district.
The complainant stated that he had bought a 2012 Tata Nano CX from Star Motors in April 2015 for ₹1,39,000. But when the invoice issued to him, it displayed the price as ₹ 1,19,519, much lower than the amount he had paid.
Claiming that the respondents overcharged him by ₹ 19,482, he approached the forum in Nalgonda and submitted documents as evidence. After hearing both sides, the forum directed the respondents to pay the complainant ₹ 5,000 as compensation, refund the overcharged amount and fixed an interest rate of 9% per annum.
Not satisfied with the forum’s order, he approached the Commission, stating the the former did not appreciate the evidence which was brought on record.
At the Commission, the complainant’s counsel sought an enhancement of interest from 9% to 24% per annum. However, the Commission stated that it saw no merit in the argument and declared the interest rate to be justified.
It stated that the respondents had indeed charged excess. Stating that that the compensation can be ‘slightly enhanced’, the Commission then proceeded to increase it tenfold, from ₹ 5,000 to ₹ 50,000.
