Within six months of the purchase, paint started peeling from the roof of the car. It was then that Gadi realised that the dealers had sold him an old car as new after giving it a fresh coat of paint.

The State Consumer Commission, however, has come to Gadi’s relief. In a recent order, the Commission directed Tata Motors to refund the cost of the car to Gadi.

Observing that the cost of “defective goods should be refunded so as to end the dispute once for all”, the Commission directed Tata Motors to refund a sum of around Rs four lakh, the then cost of the vehicle.

Tata Motors, however, has denied the allegation that an old car had been sold to the complainant. It argued in its defence that the vehicle had some “minor problems that were later rectified to Gadi’s satisfaction”. It denied that the car had any manufacturing defects that were beyond rectification.

“Besides, the complainant had failed to give evidence that there was a manufacturing defect in the vehicle. The vehicle should have been sent for expert opinion under the provision of the law, before declaring manufacturing defects,” it argued.

Justice J D Kapoor, President, State Commission, however, dismissed the arguments of defence. “The onus to prove that the vehicle did not suffer from any defect including manufacturing defect shifts to the manufacturer, once the consumer proves from job cards that the vehicle was taken on several occasions for removing one defect or the other,” he said in the order.