[Turbanator]

To be a little fair to Kawasaki, they have helped fellow member Dkaile, which is sort of an exceptional gesture in my opinion.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...ml#post4307426 (2018 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 - The Comprehensive Review)

Regarding, Handling charges, if these are indeed approved by the Manufacturer, they should clearly start mentioning on their website or brochures. I think if they do mention they are afraid of Government asking them GST @ higher rates like 30 % + on bikes and 50 % on the Cars as per past rulings on Excise duty on PDI. I am sure, manufacturers do charge extra for the freight to Dealers as it does not make sense to pay higher GST on the freight component and include in the cost of the bike.

Either way, Freight is a cost for the manufacturer/ Dealer and will ultimately get passed to us, the consumer. If they include in the MRP it gets into higher GST slab and if they charge under a separate heading, it gets charged under 18 %.

[shifu]

I had tweeted and emailed Kawasaki India about these charges.

As a result, the dealer in Hyderabad does not seem to be interested in selling me the bike. Haven't heard back from him since 12 days...

[greenoval]

Originally Posted by shifu

I had tweeted and emailed Kawasaki India about these charges.

As a result, the dealer in Hyderabad does not seem to be interested in selling me the bike. Haven't heard back from him since 12 days...

The dealers have an unbeatable product offering in the 300 segment and they are not going to let this opportunity to make some additional profits pass. Few pesky customers are not worth their time when there are many others ready to lap up cancellations. Unless Kawasaki takes the effort to put things in order.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Regarding, Handling charges, if these are indeed approved by the Manufacturer, they should clearly start mentioning on their website or brochures. I think if they do mention they are afraid of Government asking them GST @ higher rates like 30 % + on bikes and 50 % on the Cars as per past rulings on Excise duty on PDI. I am sure, manufacturers do charge extra for the freight to Dealers as it does not make sense to pay higher GST on the freight component and include in the cost of the bike.

Either way, Freight is a cost for the manufacturer/ Dealer and will ultimately get passed to us, the consumer. If they include in the MRP it gets into higher GST slab and if they charge under a separate heading, it gets charged under 18 %.

While I agree the dealer should not be incurring a loss, the very fact that the law states that these costs should not be passed on to the customer makes it untenable for the manufacturer to justify. Out of empathy for the dealer even if I agree to pay something extra, is Rs. 20,000 on a product that costs less than Rs. 3 lakh logical or plain greed.

[Blooming Flower]

I was one of the very first customers of the first batch of Ninja 300 sold in India through Bajaj Probiking dealerships when it was launched here back in April, 2013. I would definitely say, dealing by the showroom guys by Bajaj was far superior than Kawasaki is doing now. I must mention, one guy, named Praveen was there at Kolkata, Park St. showroom. He was very nice in dealing and delivering the bike from start to end and even through him, I had very good rapport with all the employees at their SVC. But it's unfortunate to say when Kawasaki became independent and split with Bajaj Auto, neither I get a service from them nor I go to them now. They may be very busy entertaining customers of bigger green bros. After the Kawasaki Palm Beach fraud, I must think Kawasaki hasn't even tried to bring a bit of customer oriented change in their business in India.

[Shumi_21]

Well it seems that the Maharashtra State Government has taken cognizance of the infuriating practice of collecting handling charges. Whether it's ruthlessly enforced or not remains to be seen. At least we are moving in the right direction.

Source: Indian Express

AS officials with the Regional Transport Office (RTO) failed to rein in automobile dealers who loot buyers by squeezing out thousands of rupees in the name of “handling charges”, the state government has issued a government resolution (GR) terming levying of such charges over and above registration fee as illegal and a violation of motor vehicle laws.

It's worth noting that the image used in the above article is surprise-surprise, a Kawasaki. Is it an indirect way of letting the reader know or am I reading too much between the lines here?

[quickfox11]

Originally Posted by Shumi_21

Well it seems that the Maharashtra State Government has taken cognizance of the infuriating practice of collecting handling charges. Whether it's ruthlessly enforced or not remains to be seen. At least we are moving in the right direction.

Did anyone try getting a quote from any showroom after this announcement? Any change in their attitude observed?

[Shumi_21]

Originally Posted by quickfox11

Did anyone try getting a quote from any showroom after this announcement? Any change in their attitude observed?

Realistically, I don't think there will be any substantial improvement here because for every one of us who question the handling charges, there are tens if not hundreds of customers who are either not aware or don't mind paying said charges. The 613% jump in the sales numbers of the N300 prove this unambiguously. To be honest, if I had not read about the illegal handling charges on this forum, I would also have been a part of the above statistic.

Although, this article on Economic Times' website offers some optimism.

The official said if anybody felt he/she was overcharged, the person concerned should contact the sales manager of the showroom immediately. “If they do not get a satisfactory answer from the sales manager, they can log on to transportcomplaint.mahaonline.gov.in to file a complaint. They can also contact the RTO through any other means or directly approach the anti-corruption bureau,” the official said.

Last week, the RTO stated that the dealers would have to do away with the “RTO handling charges”. They were advised to display notices in showrooms for the benefit of the people.

“Those buying vehicles should exactly know what they are paying for. The representatives in the showroom should tell them about all the charges and provide them with proper receipts. Money cannot be charged without receipt. Once the vehicle details come to the RTO for registration, the official will cross-verify that the buyer has the receipt and has not been charged extra. If the RTO finds there are discrepancies, an investigation will begin immediately and the dealer will face serious action,” the official said.

Let's wait and watch. Maybe things will finally change for the better now