Telangana consumer court awards Rs 15,000 to woman over defective electric scooter
The Sangareddy District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission in Telangana has directed Okinawa and two of its authorised dealers to pay Rs 15,000 in compensation and litigation costs to a woman who purchased a faulty electric scooter. The vehicle became defective within the warranty period, and repeated repair requests were ignored.
According to the June 17 order, the woman bought an Okinawa Praise Pro Electric Scooter on February 6, 2022, for Rs 79,845 from an authorised dealer. The company and dealer assured a 36-month warranty. She regularly serviced the scooter at authorised centres.
On August 7, 2024, while taking the scooter for servicing, it suddenly stopped working. She towed it to the service centre, where an advance of Rs 1,000 was taken for repairs. The centre cited technician unavailability and said repairs would take a week. Later, she was informed via video that the battery had failed, though other repairs were completed. She also requested speedometer repair. Despite both battery and speedometer being under warranty, the dealers refused replacement and asked her to contact the company directly.
She emailed the company and dealers on August 9 and 12, 2024, seeking replacement, but received no response. The dealer then pressured her to take delivery of the scooter without replacing the battery. On August 14, she was forced to collect the non-functional scooter after paying an additional Rs 550. The scooter, having run 22,475 km over 31 months, remained unusable and had to be stored at a relative's home. She subsequently filed a consumer complaint.
The commission found the company and dealers guilty of gross negligence and deficiency in service. It observed that once the vehicle was taken to an authorised service centre during warranty, it was their duty to inspect and replace the defective battery. Refusal to do so constituted a breach of warranty and unfair trade practice. The commission noted that pressuring the woman to take delivery and demanding extra payment caused severe inconvenience, mental agony, and financial loss.
The court held that the failure to replace the defective battery fell within a manufacturing defect, and the conduct amounted to unfair trade practice. The order also stated, 'Consumers purchasing electric vehicles are left remediless and suffer severe inconvenience when manufacturers, dealers and service centres fail to provide proper after-sales service and warranty support. Such acts not only amount to a deficiency in service but also undermine consumer confidence.'
The commission directed the opposite parties to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment, and Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs, totalling Rs 15,000. It also ordered them to rectify the defects within one month from the date of the order, failing which further action would be taken.
