By way of background, a bike owner had approached the consumer dispute redressal fora in Maharashtra on allegations that his Honda motorbike’s suspension system had not been functioning properly ever since he had purchased it.
He claimed that there was a defect in its suspensions system, which could not be rectified despite six repair attempts.
On February 6, 2024, the State Consumer Commission passed a ruling against Honda while observing that there was no need to call for an expert report on whether the alleged defect stood proved.
Notably, as per Section 13(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, if a complaint alleges a defect which cannot be determined without proper analysis or test of the goods, there must be an expert report to prove the defect.
However, the State Commission had opined that numerous repair attempts on the vehicle by Honda themselves indicated the existence of a manufacturing defect.
“There is no need to call any expert report,” the State commission had said, while ordering Honda to replace the vehicle and slapping a ₹15,000 penalty on it.
This order has now been challenged before the NCDRC by Honda by way of a revision petition.
Source: Barandbench
