[slicvic]

A few years back after every new car lauch, 2 more threads would pop out

- The upsizing the tyre thread

- The niggle's of the car thread


In the recent past the Thar has had a niggle thread
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...solutions.html (2nd-gen Mahindra Thar | Niggles, Problems & Solutions)

The authorities seem to have noticed. A new rule is in the making https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...3.cms?from=mdr



Hope this materializes

[Turbohead]

Meaningless!

What's in it for the end customer? Why should the govt collect the fine from the company for a fault which only the customer is facing? Another method to collect more cash by the govt!

If this is the case and if the customer doesn't have an incentive to go and complain, why would the manufacturer do a voluntary record, just like VW/ Skoda?

Either the law makers are in their own world detached from reality or they are hand in glove with the manufacturers or they have smooth brains.

[chittybang]

1 cr is peanuts for the manufacturer. How about making them pay atleast half the cost of the vehicle to the owner. This whole fine makes no sense. It won't work as a deterrent for a manufacturer. Besides recalls are good as long as the manufacturer is acknowledging the issue and addressing it with no cost to customer. When a manufacturer hides an issue it is of concern and that when proven should lead to massive fines. This is just someone in the admin identifying a possible area where some money can be made without thinking it through. It won't benefit anyone let alone the government.

[mudhasir]

Probably the initial draft of expected policy may not look effective yet but as a customer I will be looking at niggle free experience. Isn’t that what we all want? If government is taking a step to ensure better quality, I think it’s a welcome move

[V.Narayan]

Why discourage an industry from voluntary self declaration? Automobile, Aircraft manufacturing and Medical equipment are three industries with a healthy, relatively honest approach to self audit and transparency that serves the customers and the industry well and has contributed to significant improvements in the quality and reliability of the end product over the years. This kind of punitive attitude and law will only serve to drive transparency underground and deny customers the benefit of post purchase corrections. Very sad.

In my industry, of aviation, OEMs monitor the actual live performance of the aircraft fleet and engines through its entire 30 to 60 year life in service. And they continuously issue service bulletins, optional or mandatory, for modifications and improvements which the operator must implement. This global practise had led to the safety and efficiency standards we have today.

Unfortunately, several bureaucrats in India know only the tools of ration, cancel, deny, block, punish, license and not the tools of encourage, support, invest, adjudicate, listen.

[fazayal]

Who is selling the vehicle : Manufacturer

Who is buying the vehicle : Consumer

Who would collect the fine if there is a fault in vehicle : Government.

Makes complete sense.

[igemini]

Pointless in my opinion. I do not think this will have any benefits for us as a customer.

What if the manufacturers take this as an opportunity not to disclose such defects, recalls etc. and put the rectification charges on customers?

Whoever was doing this voluntarily, will get demotivated and they may tend to keep silence.

As long as the government have no real technical plans to evaluate and to define the so-called quality, this is pure nonsense in my opinion.

Mandatory recall and defective vehicles might not be the same. That also needs to be considered. So the actual definition will carry a lot of weight.

[lonetraveller89]

Finally! Such a mandatory vehicle recall policy for India has been on the shelf for as long as I can remember. If a fine can get manufacturers to build safer and adequately tested vehicles right off the production line or carry out important recalls in time, then why should we not support it? Who wants a lemon? or worse, die from riding one?

Edit - Adding a victim compensation along with the fine could work.

In 2020 alone, the Indian auto industry recalled a total of 3,37,082. But among them, these five were the biggest batch recalls we saw in 2020 from automakers in India and for these particular reasons according to the data released by SIAM -

1. General Motors (5,064 vehicles recalled)
2. Mercedes-Benz (6,015 vehicles recalled)
3. Toyota (11,556 vehicles recalled)
4. Honda (65,651 vehicles recalled)
5. Maruti Suzuki (1,32,885 vehicles recalled)

Source - Financial Express

[SKC-auto]

We are missing the point here, if the recall is done by the manufacturer (voluntary) there is no fine, if the government had to intervene for a recall then the fine applies.

Take the case of Hyundai Kona battery recall, govt asked Hyundai why the recall is not happening in India when there's a global recall. In this scenario, Hyundai needs to pay fine.

[Turbanator]

If I read it correctly, it says that " In case manufacturer/ Importer fails to undertake a voluntary recall"

Now we all know how some global manufactures will do recalls overseas but will be quiet in India or will do silently. If this addresses this issue, then it's good news for the customers.

[gkveda]

Good move by the government. But, on what basis, they will pass mandatory recalls? The parameters need to be defined properly and be very transparent to public in order to be fair on both sides. Like 1000 or more cars should have to report the same complaint.(just Example). And there has to be a mechanism to track the issues logged by owners in a independent site where manufacturers cannot manipulate the numbers.

Else, Companies will start doing lobbys with government and entire initiative will become another unofficial revenue generating Avenue for government officials.

[M00M]

Rather than taking a tired out approach i think fresh thinking needs to be brought to the table. I would recommend GOV to incentivise manufacturers which do voluntary recall by rewarding them. The more the safe the car in NCAP and the more reliable and the more environment friendly the less tax and the same for recall as well.

In any case 1 cr is peanuts. Doesnt make any difference, the amount of cars sold will more than cover 1 cr.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by M00M

.....
In any case 1 cr is peanuts. Doesnt make any difference, the amount of cars sold will more than cover 1 cr.

Some negative press along with the fine may help to some extent. I would see this as a beginning. I hope this materialises into more stringent laws in the future in favour of the car owners.

[kaushalswarup]

Progress is good; and this is progress, if implemented correctly.

As per the article, the penalty will be levied only if a voluntary recall isn’t done by a manufacturer and if the government has to step in and issue for a recall. The article also states that the threshold limit is yet to be finalised.
The government would also setup a portal for customers to lodge complaints.

A similar pro-active approach should be taken towards vehicle safety and having an effective safety rating system here that’s compulsory for every new vehicle release.

[Maverick_x1]

Pointless move unless, fines are accompanied by forced implementation of the recall + compensation to customers who paid for the fix with interest. Repeat offences to rollout recall must attract exponential fines, cancelling manufacturers license.