Hearing petitions filed separately by 167 complainants, the district consumer dispute redressal forum, Mehrauli, directed the company to pay a compensation of Rs 2,500 to each of the complainants for mental harassment and another Rs 1,000 towards litigation costs.

The court also directed PAL Peugeot to refund the booking amount of Rs 25,000 with nine per cent interest from the date of booking till the date of cancellation, along with further interest of 18 per cent after the date of cancellation till the date of payment.

The customers had deposited Rs 25,000 with the company in April 1995 as booking amount for their cars. But PAL Peugeot failed to deliver the cars on time and also did not refund the booking amount despite cancellation.

Pal Peugeot, a joint venture between PremierAutomobiles and French auto giant Peugeot, had approached the Delhi state consumer forum saying that complaints were not covered under the definition of consumer and that the district forum did not have the right to hear such cases.

The state forum, however, dismissed both the arguments. "It has not been disputed that these complainants deposited a sum of Rs 25,000 each as booking amount which has not been refunded despite cancellation of the booking order," president of district forum of Mehrauli T C Gupta and members S P Chopra and Nargis Raj Kumar said while delivering the judgement.

In earlier hearings, the district court had directed the company's managing director to appear before the court to make a definite statement regarding the payment schedule, which the company contested in the state commission. The state commission held that complaints disclosed a consumer dispute.