[nik_kapur]

Getting a 520D and im paying handling charges of Rs. 25,000. The dealer is not ready to budge at all. In fact they are charging Rs. 4000 as MCD Parking Charges on top of that . I got the Insurance done from outside and paid in total 75000 instead of Rs. 1,18,000 quoted by the dealer. If i wasnt being offered a bumper discount on the ex showroom price, i would have really given the dealer a hard time.

[forbhaskarm]

I am taking the delivery of XUV today & the dealer is charging 6200/- for logistics. I told him about the court order. In reply he showed another news print by dealers association which said that they do not charge it as a part of price of the car or some crap.

I don't intend on paying that amount. Please advise.

[stringbh]

does anyone know if this is still implemented only in delhi (since the thread is old) or by now for other cities as well?

The problem for first time buyers is that have very little information about such handling charges etc.. that dealers can take them for a ride (one way or another !).

[Perakath]

As part of my job I regularly draft replies to legal notices received by a major automobile manufacturer... we have just received a legal notice from a customer arguing over the handling charges (in the Rs 5k range) levied by the dealership. The car company wants to support the dealership by pointing out that the dealership has offered "free" accessories equivalent to the amount charged. But I feel like beating the manufacturer over the head with this thread... I may be a lawyer but I am also a citizen, and one who regularly gets slapped with all sorts of miscellaneous charges from every service provider under the sun. Just yesterday I had to pay an extra 300 rupees to a private gas agency despite the company HO telling me on the phone that the charge was unjustified. If they are so desperate for this money why can't they just incorporate it in the ex-showroom price and be done with it instead of calling attention by means of a separate charge? Just to save a little tax? I completely empathize with this poor fellow who has sent the legal notice... 5500 rupees may not be much when you're buying a car for a few lakhs, but it's the principle of the thing which infuriates us all. Conned by the government, conned by private companies... we spend our lives being conned in everything we do.

[Nilesh5417]

The new Honda Amaze price list by Crystal Honda in Pune includes handling charges of 7150/-. So not sure how to really handle this issue across the board. And since the handling charge is not uniform and fixed by the manufacturer, we are at the mercy of the dealer.

[supremeBaleno]

We are close to buying an A-Star and here the handling-charges is 4000 (at all dealers). I tell the sales guys about the court-order banning collection of handling charges, but he says this is MSIL mandated, which I take with a pinch of salt. Anyway I email MSIL and the email exchange is given below :

_____________________________
From: webmaster@maruti.co.in
Received: 8/5/2013 4:40 PM
Subject: Enquiry About Technical Query

Hi,
I am looking to purchase an A-Star MT and all your dealers are charging close to 4000 as "Handling charges". There is a recent ruling by Delhi HC where they have ruled that charging handling charges is illegal. So this seems to be a clear violation of the law. And when I ask them about this, they say that this is mandated by MSIL, which I would think is not the case. Please clarify.

Thanks & Regards,
SB

From: contact@maruti.co.in
To: sb@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2013 22:24:49 +0530
Subject: RE: Enquiry About Technical Query CRM:0002000002231

Dear Mr. SB,

We have received your communication regarding handling charges. With reference to your query we would like to inform you that these charges are pertaining to fuel expenses, driver expenses & other related expenses. The dealer have been charging the same under an agreement for sale of vehicle with its customers including you, hence the said charges are in line of our company’s policy.

From: sb@hotmail.com
To: contact@maruti.co.in
Subject: RE: Enquiry About Technical Query CRM:0002000002231
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2013 09:27:29 +0530

Hi,

Regarding Handling charges, if I understood you correctly, you are confirming that dealers are charging it with MSIL's blessings, which given the court order, does not sound like a smart move on Maruti's part. What makes it even more wrong is that the ex-showroom price already accounts for all the so-called petrol/driver expenses you mentioned. So, to put it simply, it is fleecing the customer.

Thanks,
SB.

[pdma]

Hello All ,

Iam reviving a old thread.

By any chance did anyone get lucky in an argument with the dealer and ending with a positive result by not paying the so called handling charges.
This is the most common practice and Iam being pushed to pay 8K as handling charges.I tried hard to negotiate on this charge but still the dealer wont budge.
The car I booked is a Honda City IDTEC and the dealer is not ready to reduce a single rupee on this charge.
Pardon my ignorance but I only got to know today about this SC ruling and explanation demanded by the court from the dealerships on this additional charge.
I would request you to share your experiences and if anyone for a change managed to squeezed the dealer on this. I saw a post by
krishnadevjs on the Official Honda city thread where I understand that he has put up a good fight and awaiting for a result.

Cheers,
pdma.

[thedragonreborn]

To add to this age old list of gripes, we just put money down for a Swift in Mumbai and have been asked to cough up 6840 as depot charges. Like an idiot, we paid up before I remembered that the dealer was yet to give me the break up for the "depot charges". Now, they are being supremely cagey about it. I was told that it was for "short term insurance and warehouse charges". They have an open yard for a warehouse! Let alone at least a shed.

A call to Maruti and the sales manager yielded a rather garbled, half baked commitment that they will investigate. Half an hour later the finance manager from the dealer called up to explain to me the validity of the depot charges. as a measure of the decay that pervades our bureaucracy, the bloke was very up front about the fact that the money was to be used for paying off agents to get the car registered. No getting around it. The practice has reached such brazen levels of acceptance that he apologised for not being able to provided a receipt for what essentially were bribes. Apparently, in good faith and concern for the customer's well being, they offered accessories worth 5000 rupees. Rather a moot point, given that the "free" accessories had been negotiated several sweaty afternoons before the order form was filled up.

No getting around it. A call to other dealers engendered similar responses. Sadly, Maruti seems to endorse this practice. The finance manager claims that it was the firm who gave them this procedure to follow. And no, no response from Maruti. A reference to the Delhi HC ruling was met with derision and a snort. Is the dealership a pig sty, with anthropoid lumps of porcine lard manning the telephone lines? Looks like it is, when you view them through glasses polished with the chewy, disgusting bacon rind that depot charges are.

Their ASS, however, is one of the very best I have been to. Talk about a grey world. Whatever happened to W's world of black and white?

All of this because no one is willing to put in a line item reading "Bribe for the RTO/Agent".

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by thedragonreborn

...All of this because no one is willing to put in a line item reading "Bribe for the RTO/Agent".

One of the ways to counter this is to get the car registered by the user himself. But who in this busy world would want to take up half a day off and run around to get it done? So this better be called "Convenience" charges.

In Kerala, we usually get the registration done our self (NOT the dealer), without paying a single dime to the RTO. Even in such a case, I remember seeing the handling charges mentioned by the dealership (fuel + driver expenses). Since I was NOT serious about buying a car, I didn't bother digging more.

[needmorebhp]

More fuel for fire: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/40444327.cms

I have also sent an email to RTO Bangalore. Of course, no response yet.

[pdma]

This is one battle which I strongly feel we would never win.No matter what we try in this scenario all the dealers have been acting quite bullish and they just don't care about any law or ruling.
This has to be strongly enforced by the concerned bodies , what I meant to say is if a customer raises a concern and points towards this practice there should be some action taken. I wish to hope things change some day.

Cheers,
pdma.

[sdp1975]

Car dealer told to refund ‘Incidental charges' to customer.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/citi...cle2444921.ece

[kutts]

Do you think that this ruling can be taken as a reference to get any handling charges refunded ? Will all dealers be bound to honor refund for handling charges if customers start asking it back for vehicles purchased years back ?

Wouldn't this be enough for many dealers to go bankrupt if applicable retrospectively ? In a way if it illegal, then they should be liable to pay it back with interest since it wasn't their money after all.

[commonman]

Originally Posted by kutts

Do you think that this ruling can be taken as a reference to get any handling charges refunded ? Will all dealers be bound to honor refund for handling charges if customers start asking it back for vehicles purchased years back ?

Wouldn't this be enough for many dealers to go bankrupt if applicable retrospectively ? In a way if it illegal, then they should be liable to pay it back with interest since it wasn't their money after all.

What is the status of the "handling charges " now? Any hard evidence to get this loot stopped ?

[silvercloud]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

What interested me in the post was the handling charges being charged to the customer. 9K is huge. Anyways this cost is illegal, hope you are aware of that. Negotiate hard with the dealer to waive this cost off.

Tried negotiating with the dealer (Bangalore), below were the points discussed

1. C. Rajaram, Advocate & Anr. vs Gnct Of Delhi & Ors. on 20 April, 2012
2. Case won against BMW dealer in Kochi for handling charge

Dealer Reply:

1. "Sir it is being charged everywhere; ask Tata, Maruti etc."
2. When told about the legal aspect they said that it was allowed and is as per Hyundai guidelines.
3. On persisting with it, I was asked to contact Hyundai Motors India Ltd (HMIL)

Reply HMIL

1. "Yes sir, handling charges will be charged by the dealers."
2. On being asked about the reason for these charges, was given the sales e-mail id:crsales@hmil.net

Will be writing a mail to HMIL.
However the legal aspects are still vague

1. The PIL filed in Delhi High Court only mentions Delhi car dealers and Delhi motor vehicles rules, is it extended to all of India ? If so kindly help me with references.
2. Has anyone successfully negotiated this in Bangalore ?