Hyderabad: The Hyderabad consumer forum – 3 has directed the Dr Car Pvt Ltd to refund Rs 2,23,708 along with Rs 30,000 compensation to one S. Laxmi Narayana. The complainant purchased a car from the second hand dealer on March 26 2014 paying Rs 2,13,000. He had earlier paid Rs 10,000 in advance on March 23 when he finalised the deal for the car.

The dealers handed over Form 29 & 30 for transferring the Registration Certificate (RC) to the complainant’s name after handing over the car. The forms were duly signed by the original seller, so the complainant did not bother to consult the real owner because he had faith in the dealer.

After a few days, the car developed some problems with the tyres. He spent Rs 86,000 to replace the tyres and get the insurance done. Later, however, the Kamatipura police arrived on February 2 2015 and seized the car saying that it was a stolen one and was reported in their police station by one Md. Rais Siddiqui.

The complainant rushed to the dealer for an enquiry but was not given a proper response. So he issued a legal notice. Still there was no action taken by the dealer to address the complainant’s grievance. Tired of all these, the complainant lodged a case with the Consumer Forum. In a reply to the Consumer Forum, the dealer said that every procedure from their end was carried out properly.

The forum announced that there was a malafide intention from the sellers’ end as they purposely sold the car to the complainant. The forum also noticed that there was also another customer who had booked the same car by paying Rs 20,000 in advance and did not turn up. So it was the responsibility of the dealer to make sure that they deal with authenticity. The forum noted that if no complaint was lodged with the police, why would they seize the car? After all these observations, the forum ordered Dr. Car to refund Rs 2,23,708 along with 9 per cent interest and compensation of Rs 30,000.