[jinojohnt]

If I remember correctly, there was a Kerala Highcourt judgement some time back about this "Parking at Owners Risk" practice. The Court ruled that if somebody takes money for parking, he is providing a service for a fee. That means he is responsible for safe and un-damaged parking for your car.

[::CMS::]

What I understand is that the workshop will have an insurance and the damages will be covered by it. Once I saw a duster hit a pillar while the washing attendant was handling it and the owner was not there. The service manager was telling me that it will be covered by the workshop insurance, he was more worried about how to inform the owner when he comes to take the delivery.

[carwatcher]

This thread couldn't have come at a better time. When I handed over my Fusion yesterday to the driver from the service station as I opted for pick up and drop facility, the female who took the booking told me that the liability for any mishap on the way shall be of company (I believed her 0%) and when I signed the letter of authorisation, it was written otherwise. When I asked the driver that the lady told me something else, he simply told me that she was plainly lying. He also told that he has taken numerous vehicles and I shouldn't worry and this clause is to safeguard the dealership as accident can happen due to mistake of others too.
So I was not at all surprised by the clause as even in poshest of malls, after paying hefty parking charges, there is absolutely no liability of the parking service provider. It makes me recollect the old joke on govt employees demanding bribe, if someone asks for what they get their salaries for, they say govt. pays us for sitting on the chair, you have to pay for doing the work. Similarly, we are paying for the parking space, wrt safety of the vehicle, either we have to pay them extra or leave the car in the parking with own driver.
P.S. - I got my Fusion back today after servicing with No surprises thankfully.

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

if somebody takes money for parking, he is providing a service for a fee. That means he is responsible for safe and un-damaged parking for your car.

Mate, indeed a very bold and legitimate statement. But, the facts are different from theory in this regard. We in Delhi have to face the bumper to bumper damages done to our cars in authorized parking spaces. No parking attendant is ready to own up for the damage and all they stand up for is their parking amount of 10 or 20 rupees. The irony is, no matter how many rules or judgments are passed but our cars shall forever remain at the mercy of the unfaithful, uneducated and least bothered parking attendants pan-India.

If we talk of safety, the picture turns uglier as even in presence of the attendants the cars/bikes/accessories are stolen. Be it any authorized parking space, the theft of vehicles or belongings in it are rampant in almost every city.

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[sdp1975]

The Consumer Protection Act covers 'deficiency in service'. It will cover cases such as theft in a parking lot, damage while vehicle is being serviced,etc whenever you pay money for a service being rendered. Wherever there's proven deficiency in service, compensation will be awarded.

And wordings such as 'owners risk' have no legal standing in such cases.

[mints21]

One of the parking slip mentions that the rates are inclusive of service tax which means that parking comes under the ambit of service tax. Now, if service tax is charged then any negligence should fall under the category "deficiency of service".

Though, I am not a legal expert but whatever I have written is based on my correlation of these two things.

[saket77]

Somehow this thread reminds of a quote -"Owning a car is no longer a luxury, parking space is."

[GTO]

Originally Posted by saket77

Though they may write whatever they feel like which may help them shrug off their responsibility, but what I know/ understand is that just writing a line on the parking ticket or the service center job card cannot make those guys run off from their responsibilities. I think these written arguments will not stand in the Court of Law too.

Absolutely correct. They can write whatever they want in their so called terms & conditions. If they commit an error, especially causing damage to your property, they are liable to pay. Merely including a couple of lines in their T&C doesn't absolve them of responsibility.

There are plenty of precedents / court judgements to the same.

Of course, few people are willing to go to court for damage of Rs. 5,000. However, if the amount is significant (e.g. total loss), go & fight it out.

[luvDriving]

Originally Posted by GTO

There are plenty of precedents / court judgements to the same.

I had parked my car some years ago in the automated multi-level parking on J.M. Road in Pune. When I returned to collect the car, I was made to wait till all the other cars were taken out. Then they took me in and explained that my car was damaged while parking due to some error in the hydraulic system.

The roof of my car was damaged. I contacted the owner of the parking lot and after some sharp words ( which were not required but given my state of mind I could not keep calm ) the company paid me the amount required to repair the car. I gave them an estimate from my garage owner and they paid me by cheque. There was no mention of any insurance or involving any authorities.

[Rover-IB]

I am trying to draw a parallel here and this would not be an exact example. So pardon me if this sounds off topic. But the below mentioned article mentions a consumer court verdict in favor of the consumer against a dry cleaner who had listed a number of terms and conditions on his receipt and had refused to pay a customer for lost clothes on the basis of those conditions.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-...e1-749802.aspx

Likewise any printed conditions should not relieve the parking owners from any negligence on their part and any damage caused to the consumer due to that negligence.

[saket77]

Signing any slip does not bind you legally always. Many times the contract can be defective on technical points. If signing a contract would always be legally binding, then there would not have been terms such as Void contract and Voidable contracts. Any one who has read business laws should now be able to correlate.

[Naman_Ferrari]

This is a major problem when you give out your car to the valet.

About 2 years ago, I had given my Mercedes to the valet of a very reputed restaurant in Bangalore.
To my horror, when I got the car back, the MB logo was missing from the hood.
When I questioned the valet, instead of being sorry, he blamed me and said that it was like that when I gave it to them and they had nothing to do with it.
What's worse is that the management supported the valet and told me that "PARKING IS AT OWNERS RISK"
I was really annoyed but didn't want to argue and just left.

I think thats something to think about before any of us give our dear cars to the valet again.

[Chetan_Rao]

Well, all I can do is not let any of these 'no liability' morons get behind the wheel of my car. I research parking options before I go somewhere, take time to park myself no matter how long/far it takes, or even take a cab if going to a notoriously crowded/congested area.

As for the disclaimer on the service job card, I use that as my excuse to stay with the car while it's being worked upon "My property, my risk, I'm just making sure nothing happens to it".

[Urban_Nomad]

This whole "Caveat Emptor" thing gets on my nerves. Forget your car parking man; something as basic as selling food beyond its expiration date by a store / manufacturer is absolutely fine BY LAW.

It is upto the buyer to ensure that the food they are buying is of right quality. They must conduct these checks to ensure they and / or their families do not die of food poisoning.

<THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE>

[nda992]

A thought provoking article..
India has always been a land of contradictions.
No one and I mean no one has the guts to take responsibility of their actions.
I got my TATA Indica serviced in Pune and just a week after that, while driving down from Bombay, the car developed a problem and my brakes failed.
Although I managed to reach home in one piece, when I approached the service station asking them why this happened, these guys just went into a long argument saying it's none of their fault, without even bothering to find out what happened.
The vehicle is given to them on a lot of good faith, but I doubt how much do they do on their part.
Parking in Pune is also fraught with the same problems. Just no one wants any responsibility.
Even the school buses have a line on the pass which says that in case of an acciddent, they bear no responsibility.