UT consumer panel puts Tata Motors on notice

Car poorly manufactured and suffers from numerous patent and latent defects: Complainant

Chandigarh, August 18
Tata’s small car Nano is heading for a big legal battle. Sliding down the popularity chart, Nano’s already mangled image today received a direct hit after the UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission put Tata Motors on notice.
In fact, Tata Motors and Hind Motors Limited have been virtually hauled up before the Consumer Commission on a complaint alleging gross deficiency in product and service.
In his complaint filed before the commission, Punjab and Haryana High Court’s senior advocate Manmohan Lal Sarin has asserted that the vehicle, still within the warranty period, “has been poorly manufactured and suffers from numerous patent and latent defects”.
Sarin has said the vehicle was sold to him “in a condition which rendered it unfit for use and it still remains unusable till date”. Sarin said he was “swayed” into buying the car “by the lofty promises”. Though he owned a Mercedes Benz, a Chevrolet Cruze and a Volkswagen Polo, he booked a Tata Nano on April 20, 2009, and paid Rs 1.4 lakh in advance for the vehicle.
“But right from the inception, the car has proven to be defective, unreliable, unfit for use, unsafe and far from the claims made by the opposite parties at the time of sale”. Sarin asserted that the car had to undergo repairs since the day of sale for steering and headlights trouble. Its wipers and air- conditioning regulator were not working and the accelerator cable assembly, along with the accelerator cable, had to be changed. The coolant leaked and the radiator had to be removed, repaired and re-installed in the car. Overheating was another problem.
In fact, “upgradation” had to be carried out as “an emergency remedial measure owing to the detection of certain extremely serious flaws in the design of the car”. Sarin said he was informed that all the cars were being recalled for similar “upgradation”. Some of the defects, Sarin said, were “highly dangerous and could have easily resulted in a fatal road accident, even loss of life of the occupants or other road users”.
“The failure of critical assemblies like the accelerator cable in any vehicle is sure invitation to a fatal accident. Similarly, the persistent and recurring overheating, resulting from mechanical failure, leakage of coolant from the radiator etc was most likely to result in a fire or complete destruction of the engine sooner or later.” Seeking exemplary damages as well as a complete refund for the un-roadworthy and highly unsafe vehicle he was sold, Sarin has added “the only response received by him to his multiple letters and requests for redressal has been lip service”.

Little Nano in big trouble Camplainant says car had to undergo repairs since the day of sale for steering and headlights trouble Its wipers and airconditioning regulator were not working; the accelerator cable assembly had to be changed The coolant leaked and the radiator had to be removed, repaired and re-installed Overheating was another problem Some defects were “highly dangerous and could have resulted in a fatal road accident”

20 fresh complaints against Healthyway

Chandigarh, August 18

The UT police today received 20 fresh complaints against the owner of Healthyway Immigration for duping them of their hard-earned money on the pretext of sending them abroad.
With this, the total count of complaints with the police in this case touched 50. The police had earlier been investigating 30 complaints against the firm and had registered seven cases.
The prime accused, Amit Kakkar, was produced in court today. The police sought his custody again and he was remanded to one-day police custody.

Clients left in a dilemma

Scores of youths from Punjab today gathered outside the office of Healthyway Immigration at Sector 42 to enquire about the status of their visa applications.
The applicants, who had deposited lakhs with the company, were left harassed on finding the office sealed by the UT police and then queued up at the Sector-36 police station and the police headquarters at Sector 9 to know the status.
A large number of them were left in a dilemma as to whether they should pursue a complaint with the police or patiently wait for their visa applications to come up before either the British, Canadian or Australian High Commissions.
Paramjeet Singh, a client of the consultancy, had specially come from Jalandhar to enquire about his application after he got to know of the arrest of the director of Healthyway from newspapers.
“I went to the office of the consultancy and found it closed. Some people sitting outside told me that the office would open by August 20. From there I went to the Sector-36 police station. I have paid half the amount to the firm for migrating to the UK. My application was being processed,” he said.
While approaching the UT police, he was left in a dilemma as to whether he should file a complaint or wait for the visa application to be processed.
Yadwinder Singh, a resident of Sangrur, also faced a similar dilemma as he had deposited Rs 1.75 lakh with the company as he was promised migration to the UK.
“If we submit a complaint with the UT police, we will lose all chances of going abroad. My application is pending before the embassy. I am confused as to what course of action to follow,” he said.
Such clients of the consultancy were then advised to make enquiries from their respective embassies to know about the status of their applications.

Police dispatch teams

A team of the special investigating team today dispatched teams to various towns in Punjab where Healthyway had its branch offices. A separate team would make inquiries from various banks where the accused had been opening fake accounts of clients. The role of employees of these banks was also under the scanner.

Another Healthyway office sealed

‘Career Abroad’ in Sector 44 was being run by director Amit Kakkar’s wife
Chandigarh, August 19
The UT police today sealed another education consultancy being run by Healthyway Immigration in Sector 44. Career Abroad, an education consultancy being run by Swati Kakkar, wife of the prime accused Amit Kakkar, was sealed by the police and vital documents were confiscated.
The police said the firm was in the dock for duping scores of complainants on the promise of easy migration abroad.
Swati, who runs the consultancy, is a co-accused in the case. She is yet to be arrested. DSP Ashish Kapoor said they had received similar complaints of fraud against Career Abroad and investigations were on to find out the number of complainants they had duped.
Meanwhile, the police seized 174 passports from the offices of Healthyway Immigration belonging to clients. The police received 14 more complaints from residents of Punjab who had been duped.
Officials of the special investigating team (SIT) today confirmed from the UCO Bank branch in Ferozepur that all the documents pertaining to the accused put before the High Commissions/embassies were fake. As many as 14 banks in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal are under the scanner as Amit Kakkar had opened fake accounts.

Confusion over passports

y A large number of clients of Healthyway Immigration in Sector 42 have been left in the lurch as they had deposited essential documents, including passports and matriculation certificates, with the company. Scores of residents from Punjab today approached the police to get back their passports and other documents. A majority of them are unaware if their passports were sent to the embassy or have been sent back following rejection.

Utter chaos

I have been facing a harrowing time. All my original documents were sent to the embassy three months ago by Healthyway. My application has been rejected but I do not know where my documents are as the embassy is likely to have returned them to the travel agent.
—Manpreet, a resident of Ludhiana
The office has been sealed and we have nowhere to go. I went to the courier company as the Healthyway office was sealed and the documents are likely to be returned. The police should return the documents to their owners.
—Paramjeet, a resident of Ludhiana
The employees of Healthyway even confiscated the receipt of our applications submitted to the embassy. We are feeling harassed and do not know where to go.
—Gaurav, a complainant from Jalandhar

Most papers with embassy: DSP

The case is at the investigation stage and many original documents are with the embassy. Clients should approach the courier company or the embassy if they know that their documents were sent by the company.
—Ashish Kapoor, DSP