PESHAWAR: A consumer court here has summoned representatives and distributors of two automobile companies in different cases of ‘unfair trade practices’.

District and sessions judge Mohammad Asif Khan, who headed the court, fixed April 12 for next hearing directing respondents, including Al-Haj Automotive Limited, Khyber Motors and Hyundai Nishat Motors, to respond to the complaints on that date.

One of the complainants is Maria Rehman, who had reported a delay in the delivery of vehicle Proton Saga 1.3 to the Pakistan Citizen Portal.

She said she had booked the vehicle in June 2021 with delivery due in September 2021 but the vehicle was given to her in February 2022 when the prices were raised and revised on payment policy.

The complainant sought the recovery of extra amount she paid due to ‘deficiency in the service’ by respondents.

Fixes hearing for April 12

Her counsel, Zarak Arif Shah, argued that the acts of the respondents fell in the purview of Section 2’s sub-clauses (iv), (viii) and (ix) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Consumer Protection Act, 1997, which were regarding an unfair trade practice.

He said the court had jurisdiction under the law to look into the matter.

The lawyer submitted an application for including certain parties in the complaint as respondents for the just disposal of the complaint.

He said since Al-Haj Automotive Limited was an assembler and distributor of Proton Brand motors in Pakistan and had Khyber Motors as its authorised dealer in KP, both of them were necessary parties to the case.

The court decided to summon representatives of both companies on April 12.

In the other case complainant was Sardar Mohammad Ayub against Hyundai Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Hyundai Nishat Motors.

The complainant’s counsel, Zarak Arif, said despite full payment of Rs5.72 million by his client in Jan 2021, the respondents failed to deliver the vehicle, Hyundai Tuscon, in July 2021 as per their commitment.

He said a letter was sent to the complainant by the chief executive officer of Hyundai Nishat Motors on July 26, 2021, and that there would be slight delay in delivery due to ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the vehicle would be delivered ‘as soon as possible’.

The lawyer also said the respondents had charged the complainant an additional amount of Rs135,000 citing an increase in the vehicle price in Feb 2022, and the vehicle was delivered to him on March 5, 2022, after a delay of over seven months.

He sought orders for the refund of that amount along with interest on it to the complainant.

The counsel also requested the court to order the payment of Rs1 million as compensation to his client for the ‘agony, inconvenience and hardships’ caused by the respondents.

The court fixed April 12 for the next hearing into the case.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2022