Three days after the Transport department issued a warning to city car dealers against levying additional charges, they appeared before the Delhi High Court and denied the allegations that these charges were being taken without authorisation.

According to the response from some of the car dealers to the government, they were levying these charges “as per the company policy”, and they were authorised by the manufacturers to charge customers under this head. This is in sharp opposition to the department’s notice, which restrained them from charging buyers under logistics and other heads without authorisation. Stating that all car dealers should comply with the Motor Vehicle Act and rules, the notice warned that breach of terms and conditions would result in penal action, such as withdrawal of trade certificates, cancellation of self-registration powers and imposition of monetary penalty.

On Wednesday, the counsel for the car dealers sought an opportunity from the court to explain the gamut of these charges — contending that they were being levied with authorisation for the buyers’ convenience. Denying that these charges formed part of the registration process, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi said car dealers incur expenditure on warehouses, and insurance acquired from the warehouses till they are delivered to the customers.

The advocate failed to completely explain how the charges were legally valid, and why some dealers had refunded the money when buyers complained.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, however, granted them an opportunity to file a reply to the petition by advocate C Rajaram, who alleged malpractices by car dealers in Delhi.

The court, on the last date of hearing, had sought personal appearance of city’s Transport Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner (operations) to give an explanation, as to how car dealers continued to charge thousands of rupees from buyers towards logistics and other charges purportedly without any authorisation.