The ruling comes from the Delhi Consumer Commission, which has asked General Motors India Ltd to pay Rs 10.55 lakh as compensation to a city resident for selling a defective Opel Astra car in 2001. Commission president Justice J D Kapoor held in the recent order that it was the automaker’s responsibility to prove the vehicle did not have manufacturing defects, as alleged by Aggarwal. “The onus,” Justice Kapoor ruled, “lies heavily on the manufacturer to prove that these defects are not manufacturing defects for the purpose of replacement of the vehicle.” The consumer panel observed that the consumer, in this case and otherwise, suffered immensely by taking the vehicle to service stations every now and then. The commission said that besides refund of the cost of defective vehicle, which was the best way to avoid a second bout of litigation that could arise by replacing it, a consumer is also entitled to compensation for discomfort and mental agony.

“There is no provision in the Consumer Protection Act that absolves the manufacturer from the liability to compensate for having sold defective goods,” the commission observed.

According to complainant Mitali Aggarwal, she had bought the Opel Astra car in February 2001 for Rs 8.55 lakh. She said in her complaint that the company assured her it was free of all mechanical and manufacturing defects, and had been test-driven in one of the best test-tracks of the country.

But, the complaint says, Aggarwal was forced to take the car to the company’s service station frequently due to problems in the engine and other parts of the vehicle. The servicing at regular intervals notwithstanding, the defects persisted, which forced Aggarwal to move the consumer commission. The automaker rejected Aggarwal’s contention, saying there were no manufacturing defects in the car, and that the problems were redressed properly every time she came with the car to company’s service station.