The Supreme Court of India on the 20th of April, 2012 has issued a directive to car dealers striking down and handling charges the dealers charge over and above the amount required to register the vehicle.
This means that if you find any fishy or illogical amount in your final bill, you have the right to ask what its for and refuse to pay if it is over and above the registration charges already mentioned to you.
HISTORY:
In the year 1996, an amendment was made to the Delhi Motor Vehicles Rules which authorized Car dealers to register the cars for the convenience of the general public. The rule clearly stated that the dealers are not to charge the customers A SINGLE RUPEE over and above the amount it takes to register the vehicles. The dealers are required to issue and undertaking to the Government of India saying that they will not charge anything more that the price of the vehicle, registration charges and road tax.
However, just like a lot of other things in our beloved country this is not followed and dealers easily demand an extra sum of money disguised in the form of "Misc charges", "Holding Charges", "Handling Charges" etc.
This has been going on for years and the lack of any mechanism to deal with such cases has left customers with no choice but to bite the bullet and pay whatever the dealer asks them to. Hence a PIL was filed challenging this practice.
The million dollar question:-
Where does this money go?
Good Question, the dealer is already making money by selling you the car, why would he charge a measly (compared to the price of the car) sum over and above the registration?
What Dealers Unofficially Claim:-
The unofficial answer to this question is that the Officers in the Transport and Registration departments take money from the dealers to "ensure a smooth process". This amount is passed over to the customers. Well, at least that's what the dealers unofficially claim. Whether this is true or not, you be the judge.
What Dealers Officially Claim:-
According to an article in the Times of India, dated January 5th, 2012; an association od dealers in Delhi approached the Delhi High Court. The court then asked them to file a counter affidavit in response to the PIL in which they stated that the dealers are charging the registrants only the registration fee, road tax and municipal parking charges (supra); that the handling charges / logistic charges which is in violation of their undertaking given to the Government of India is not related to registration of vehicles but are towards stockyard services / warehousing charges, driving costs in terms of fuel consumed and people engaged, fuel given following delivery, transit risk insurance from stockyard to dealer's showroom, polishing and / or waxing and towards other handling costs and have nothing to do with the collection by the said dealers of the registration fee, road tax and municipal parking charges.
The Supreme Court Held:-
"The position which emerges is that while the petitioner avers that the 'extras' so charged by the dealers are for providing the services of registration and which the dealers are not entitled to charge, the dealers deny the extras to be on account of providing the services of registration and claim the same to be on other accounts. The respondents No.1&2 as aforesaid have no authority to intervene in the charge by the dealers even if illegal of the said extras so long as they are not on account of commission or for providing service of registration. The said question thus becomes a question of fact to be adjudicated on a case to case basis and no general direction with respect thereto can be issued in this public interest litigation. The petitioners who are themselves advocates have of course demonstrated that upon the petitioners issuing legal notice in this regard a particular dealer has refunded the amount so claimed but the same cannot be indicative of any illegal practice being followed and cannot lead to a general direction. It is well nigh possible that considering the meager amount involved, that particular dealer may not have wanted to battle with an advocate and chose to refund the amount."
"We accordingly dispose of this writ petition with the direction that in the event of the respondents No.1&2 Transport Department / GNCTD receiving any complaint of any vehicle dealer charging anything extra / commission from the vehicle purchaser for providing the services of registration, the respondents No.1&2 shall enquire into the said complaint and if find any merit therein, shall take action in accordance with law against such vehicle dealers."
The Situation as of Today:-
This judgment did not receive as much publicity as the judgment on tints. However, the dealers are now telling their customers that the matter is still pending in the Supreme Court and they have to pay handling charges.
This happened with my uncle when he went to take delivery of his W8 Mahindra XUV 500 from a dealer in Delhi. The dealer was shown the judgment and they did not charge any Handling Charges which they were claiming before.
FYI:- What exactly are Handling Charges?
The handling charges were levied by dealers for transferring the vehicles between the office of the transport department and the dealer offices, as well as for keeping the vehicle in the dealer's property till it was picked up by the customer.
What is a PIL? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-...igation_(India)
The Supreme Court Judgment:- % C. Rajaram, Advocate & Anr vs Gnct Of Delhi & Ors on 20 April, 2012 An article in the Times of India:- Government to car dealers: Waive handling charges - Times Of India Fine Print:-
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