A consumer court in Thrissur has awarded a compensation of ₹3.10 lakh to a car owner, who registered a complaint that her car failed to offer the “promised mileage” in the vehicle’s advertisement.
The Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Thrissur, has passed the order against Kairali Ford, Kerala Cars Private Ltd, the dealer and Ford India Pvt Ltd, the manufacturer.
32 km/litre promised
P.P. Soudhamini of Chowoor, Thrissur, purchased a Ford Classic Diesel car in 2014 for ₹ 8,94,876.
According to her complaint filed in 2015, the brochures and leaflets issued by the dealer and the manufacturer promised a mileage of 32 km for a litre. But she complained that the vehicle failed to offer the promised mileage and offered only 16 km/l. Moreover, one of the tyres underwent bulging even when the car covered just 10,000 km.
The forum appointed an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering of the Government Engineering College, Thrissur, as the expert commissioner, to examine the complaint. He found that the actual mileage delivered by the car was around 19.6 kmpl, a deviation of around 40%.
Ford India took a position that the mileage claimed in the brochure was based on a test conducted by a third party agency. However, the Forum stressed that once the manufacturer endorses such figures in their brochure it cannot escape from the responsibility.
The manufacturer also said that the promised mileage is possible only in standard condition. However, the forum noted that the test was conducted in a national highway at a constant speed of 55-60 km/hr.
Unfair trade practice
Considering the huge gap between the promised and actual mileage, the forum held that the “misleading advertisement highlighting an exaggerated mileage’ amounts to an unfair trade practice.
The court awarded ₹1.50 lakh to the complainant towards financial loss, ₹1.50 lakh for mental agony and distress and ₹10,000 towards legal expenses with an interest of 9% from the date of filing of the complaint till actual payment.
The award was passed by the consumer forum, comprising president C.T. Sabu, members Sreeja S. and R. Ram Mohan. Advt. A.D. Benny appeared for the complainant.
