Swift consumer loses forum case

CONSUMER ALLEGED that within a few months of purchase, the car emitted sounds. COMPANY PROVED the consumer had used adulterated oil.

A man who filed a petition against Maruti Suzuki at the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum claiming that he had been supplied with a faulty car which made a lot of noise, lost the case because he was found to have used adulterated oil in his vehicle.

The consumer had purchased a Swift in 2012 with a four-year extended warranty. He alleged that within a few months of purchase, the car had started emitting sounds, which he had made multiple attempts to have fixed. He said that during the four-year warranty period he had been misguided and misinformed by representatives of the company. He added that they had retained his car at the workshop for a long period of time, leading to losses in his business.

Representatives of the company and the workshop said that the man's claims were untrue. They said that the man had first made a complaint about the noise in 2014. They had looked into it and identified that it was being caused by the use of adulterated oil. They said that the problem had not been caused due to some fault on the part of the company or the dealership, but due to the customer’s negligence.

Servicing tokens, which proved that the problem had not been reported until the customer’s 17th visit to the dealership in 2014, were submitted as evidence. The Forum found the consumer’s claim to be invalid. It also found that the use of adulterated oil could be blamed for the occurrence of the problem and that there was no evidence of any deficiency on the company's part.

The complainant’s demand for the refund of `7 lakh, or the provision of a new car, as well as compensation of `10 lakh, were rejected.