Hyderabad: Hero Electrical Vehicles asked to pay Rs 70,580 to Medchal –Malkajgiri resident for faulty bike

Hyderabad: District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-I Hyderabad has ordered Hero Electrical Vehicles Pvt Ltd to refund Rs 70,580 to a 50-year-old man for selling a faulty bike.

The Medchal-Malkajgiri resident filed a lawsuit against Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd alleging negligence and deficiency of service.

Case details

The court also ordered the motorcycle manufacturer to pay compensation of Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 to cover the litigation costs within 45 days of receipt of the order to the complainant.

On January 13, 2022, Madanu Chinnaiah of Pochampally village in Medchal -Malkajgiri district purchased an electrical battery two-wheeler motorcycle from Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd for Rs 70,580.

Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd issued an invoice bearing No. 500469 and the warranty period on the said vehicle was 5 years. On June 29, 2022, Chinnaiah found the vehicle motor was not working properly. He immediately brought it to the notice of Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd and handed over the vehicle to rectify the problem. The motorcycle manufacturer replaced the motor with a new one and returned it to Chinnaiah on August 28, 2022.

Hero Electric neither replaced motor nor batteries

When the replaced motor also failed, the vehicle was again handed over to Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd for fixing the fault. After receiving the vehicle, Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd informed Chinnaiah that the failure was due to water entering into the motor. At the time of purchase, Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd told the complainant that the battery was water resistant. Despite repeated requests by Chinnaiah, the staff of Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd neither replaced the motor and batteries nor rectified the defects.

The complainant contended that Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd sold Chinese products under the brand of ‘Hero Electricals’ that were defective and substandard quality vehicles. Further, the mileage of the vehicle was also not up to the mark. He submitted that the failure of Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd to rectify the issues caused mental agony and inconvenience to him as he spent several hours in Ankur Motors (service consultant) to enquire about the motor and batteries, but the staff of Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd did not give proper reply.

Chinnaiah knocked on doors of Consumer Forum for justice

Vexed with the behavior of the staff of Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd and Ankur Motors alleging negligence and deficiency in service, Chinnaiah knocked on the doors and prayed to the Commission to provide him justice in the matter. Despite receipt of notice by Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd on October 3, 2023, and Ankur Motors on October 5, 2023, they failed to appear before the Commission for filing a written version within the statutory period as prescribed under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

After hearing the arguments, the Court noted that in the present case, it is quite evident from the pleadings and documentary evidence that the issues were noticed within a few months of the purchase of the vehicle. Though Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd and Ankur Motors, while handing over the vehicle to Chinnaiah claimed to rectify the issues, he had to come back to the opposite parties with the same issues.

The Court noted that the purchaser of the electric vehicle had been saddled with a defective and troublesome vehicle which had given a lot of mental stress and agony (as per the documentary evidence of Chinnaiah, and the same was neither challenged nor rebutted by the opposite parties). Given the above discussion, Chinnaiah is allowed in part and the Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd and Ankur Motors are jointly and severally liable to make good the loss caused to Chinnaiah and are directed to refund the amount along with compensation and litigation costs to him.