[SR-71]

A step in the right direction - Quoting ET..

The road transport and highways ministry is planning to formulate a stringent policy that will hold manufacturers accountable for making faulty vehicles. An expert committee appointed by the ministry has recommended slapping Rs 1 lakh fine on manufacturers for each faulty vehicle or a three-month jail term or both.

Read more about it here

[DieselAddikt]

By 'faults', do they also mean niggling issues and conking power window LEDs and fog lamps ? Then it would mean 1lakh INR cash back on TATA cars.

On a serious note, making laws would just not be enough. They also have to urge the judicial system to act fast. In the present scenario, a person will have to wait for years after filing a consumer case. Hope that improves first. Only then will laws actually make things better.

[.sushilkumar]

finally a welcome step from our always sleeping govt but i suspect it will take shape and even if it took shape, 1 lakh fine is like pocket change for them and will hardly act as deterrent for manufacturer's . remember when seat belts were made mandatory , what kind of hue and cry was made by all auto manufacturers & if this law took effect , it will have more serious ramifications for them if compared to that seat belt fiasco . I just hope it materializes.

[MAS]

I hope this will turn out to be another money making machine for the government.

It is a good step forward if properly designed and implemented. Or else, it would land up in the courts and the cases would run forever.

[speedmiester]

It's a step in the right direction, at least it will make the manufacturers sit and take notice of faults reported by customers and offer better cars.

[bala80]

Nice to read this, but a fine of just 1 lakh rupees? That's peanuts for these companies.

They need to increase this penality manifold for it to be effective IMO.

[SDP]

In the current age of technological advances, does a act like this really make sense? I mean, how many lemons have been delivered by manufacturers in recent times? My guess would be that the number is insignificantly small.

[andromeda]

Originally Posted by bala80

Nice to read this, but a fine of just 1 lakh rupees? That's peanuts for these companies.

They need to increase this penality manifold for it to be effective IMO.

The penalty might not be great, but it's a start in the right direction.
Once it's made a law, it will serve a few more purposes.
This will also go a long way in increasing awareness among customers.
The owner of the lemon car X will hopefully go to court with this one. As everybody knows court cases drags on for years. This is definitely a (-ve) publicity that the manufacturer does not want.

After all the effort from the customer, the court might rule against the manufacturer and the customer ends up getting 1L. After that point, the customer would mostly like be unhappy with the peanut amount he/she got (after putting in so much effort). He/She will do his bit in dissuading others from buying that car.

The initial court rulings will also serve as the precedent/benchmark for future judgements.

Not sure if the manufacturers will fight it out in court just for 1L.
Hopefully it will force the manufacturers to settle the issue out of court for a decent sum and some kinda of non-disclosure with customers.

[julupani]

I am sorry, but there is something not very clear at all.

No manufacturer can be slapped any penalty at all, not even 1 rupee let alone 1Lakh, for providing what are called "lemons". It is an assumed risk by the customer, that somethings will malfunction, and some units will malfunction more than others.

For any such penalty to be imposed, the manufacturer must either have "knowingly" provided a car with faults, by not adhering to reasonable quality checks or failed to adhere to any promises that it has expressly made, like honouring warranty claims.

At the end of the day, no manufacturer knowingly provides lemons. You cannot fault any manufacture for providing a customer with a "lemon".

[arin_12]

Here I would also like to add some restriction/compulsory specs for vehicle manufacturer.
1. Compulsory Low Crash Guard for Heavy vehicle.
2. Increase the no of Stop/turn light in case of heavy commercial vehicle. Look @ TATA from Pick-up (207 ) to heavy truck the back light is same in size and power.
3. Less decible Horn.
etc...

[SCORPION]

Who pays the fine to whom? The company pays the fine to the govt. The customer still remains the loser, ends up with the lemon. So how does he get compensated? And who gets the jail term? The guy working on the assembly line, or the MD?
Lets wait and see.

[myavu]

Faulty vehicle makers face action

Transport Ministry Plans To Slap 1 Lakh Fine On Each Defective Product

Source : TOI, New Delhi - 07/09/2011

New Delhi: The road transport and highways ministry is planning to formulate a stringent policy that will hold manufacturers accountable for making faulty vehicles. An expert committee appointed by the ministry has recommended slapping Rs 1 lakh fine on manufacturers for each faulty vehicle or a three-month jail term or both.

The ministry is working on amendments to Motor Vehicle Act. The ministry is under pressure amid a growing demand to formulate a policy on mandatory product recall like other developed nations.

Sources said new recommendations stipulate that in case a consumer finds manufacturing faults with engine or any other parts, s/he would be able to lodge a complaint with the state transport authority (STA). Consequently, experts would investigate the case and suggest action. Increasing complaints from consumers and rise in instances of recalls by manufacturers have called for new rules. The ministry will hold a meeting with stakeholders to discuss these issues next week. Last year, the government had proposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the manufacturers for each faulty vehicle and introduced a bill to set up National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board. However, the standing committee sent the bill back.

In India, companies like Maruti and Honda, have recalled particular batches of cars after detecting faults in some of their parts.

“The defective vehicles having defects are usually recalled under the product recall mechanism in other countries by the national road safety authority in case the manufacturers failed to voluntarily recall the defective vehicles. This mechanism has been created by the authorities to protect consumer interest,” said S P Singh of Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.

At last a good initiative from Ministry. But I feel the fine is too small considering the agony, stress and monetary losses suffered by the customers and of-course the safety of others on the road.

Guys, your inputs appreciated.

Cheers!

Vinu

[prajwalkashyap]

Originally Posted by julupani

I am sorry, but there is something not very clear at all.

No manufacturer can be slapped any penalty at all, not even 1 rupee let alone 1Lakh, for providing what are called "lemons". It is an assumed risk by the customer, that somethings will malfunction, and some units will malfunction more than others.

For any such penalty to be imposed, the manufacturer must either have "knowingly" provided a car with faults, by not adhering to reasonable quality checks or failed to adhere to any promises that it has expressly made, like honouring warranty claims.

At the end of the day, no manufacturer knowingly provides lemons. You cannot fault any manufacture for providing a customer with a "lemon".

You are right about not faulting the manufacturers for providing customers with lemons. The point is what action do they take after they have found that a car is a lemon. Are they interested in correcting the mistakes by fixing up the lemons? Or will they just make the customer live with it? Most often, customers take the auto makers to courts as a last resort when the manufacturer doesn't bother to address the problems in the car.

This new law will act as a deterrent for the auto makers to act upon the problems that the customers are facing, either proactively or reactively. The more they ignore, more problems they will face which might result in more fines. If its a case of 1 car, then 1 lakh might be alright, if its about 10 cars, then 10 lakhs going out as fines will not make someone in the Auto company very happy. So either they will need to fix up their products, or fix up their processes, or keep paying fines till they finally pack up and go home.

Prajwal

[sgiitk]

In todays competitive environment this may be almost redundant since nobody can afford to leave a lemon out without fixing it. Also, involving the STA may prove to be counter productive. We all know the problems of the STA's.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

By 'faults', do they also mean niggling issues and conking power window LEDs and fog lamps ? Then it would mean 1lakh INR cash back on TATA cars.

Wonder if they will give 1 lakh INR for each fault. Then a Safari owner(a Scorpio owner may also in some cases)will get his/her car for free,rather the company may pay him/her money net for buying the car.

On a serious note,these laws are essential to make the manufacturers more serious about QC,to which they had been giving a blind eye(almost).