Court orders new battery for faulty EV scooter, awards Rs 15K compensation

NEW DELHI: A district consumer commission has directed Okinawa Scooters & Motorcycles India and its authorised dealers to replace a defective scooter battery and speedometer free of cost, and pay Rs 15,000 in compensation and litigation costs, after they failed to honour the vehicle's warranty.The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Medak at Sangareddy said that electric vehicle buyers should not be left remediless when manufacturers and dealers fail to provide proper after-sales service.What was the issueThe complainant, Mohd Owaisuddin Owais, an advocate, purchased an Okinawa Praise Pro electric scooter in February 2022 for Rs 79,845. The scooter came with a 36-month warranty, and he regularly serviced it at authorised service centres.On 7 August 2024, while taking the scooter for servicing, it suddenly stopped working and had to be towed to the authorised service centre. The service centre informed him that the battery had become defective, and he also reported that the speedometer was malfunctioning.Both parts were within the warranty period and the vehicle was only 31 months old and had run 22,475 km. However, instead of replacing the defective parts, the dealer allegedly asked him to contact the manufacturer directly by email.The complainant wrote to the company on 9 and 12 August 2024, but received no response.He further alleged that the dealer repeatedly pressured him to take back the non-functional scooter, and he was made to pay an additional Rs 550 — bringing his total repair payment to Rs 1,550 — despite the battery never being replaced.Since the scooter remained unusable, he had to keep it at a relative's house. He then approached the consumer commission, alleging deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.What did the commission sayThe bench comprising P Kasthuri (president), Gajjala Venkateswarlu (member) and Makyam Vijay Kumar (member) held that Okinawa and its dealers were guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.The commission noted that since the dealer accepted the vehicle for repair and collected an advance payment, this showed the vehicle was indeed handed over to the authorised service centre for fixing the defects."It was the bounden duty of the opposite parties to inspect, process and replace the defective battery in accordance with the battery terms," and that their refusal to do so "amounts to breach of warranty and amounts to breach and unfair trade practice," the commission said.On the speedometer issue, the commission observed that the trip meter resetting to zero every time the vehicle was switched off clearly showed defective design, poor manufacturing quality and poor performance, and that the dealers' failure to fix or replace it despite repeated complaints amounted to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.The commission was also critical of the dealer's conduct in pressuring the complainant to take back the scooter without resolving the fault."The conduct of the opposite parties in refusing replacement and forcing the complainant to run from one office to another clearly reflects an unfair trade practice adopted to evade Warranty liabilities," the commission noted.The commission further said that electric vehicle buyers are often left remediless."Consumers purchasing electric vehicles are left remediless and suffer severe inconvenience when manufacturers, dealers and service centers fail to provide proper after-sales service and warranty support," it added.The commission partly allowed the complaint and directed Okinawa Scooters & Motorcycles India and its two dealers, jointly and severally, to replace the battery and speedometer free of cost, pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for mental agony, and Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs — with 30 days given for compliance.