The Ciaz sedan from Maruti Suzuki has been one of the most awaited car for this year. As per sources, Maruti Suzuki is likely to face legal action from consumer affairs ministry for accepting bookings for Ciaz way before revealing technical specification, price or publicly displaying the car. A complaint in this regard has been filed by Dinesh Trivedi, MP and Railway Minister, who stated that he has received many complaints from the public over pre-launch booking being accepted by the company.
The Consumer Protection Act states that, “probookvides a consumer the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.” Letter to Chairman and Managing Director of Maruti Suzuki dated 23rd September, from Manoj Parida, Joint Secretary at Ministry, states that "modern days of total transparency", the manner in which the sale of this new car is being promoted amounted to "misleading" consumers. As a reply to the letter, a letter from Maruti Suzuki executive said that customers had the option to go through newspaper reviews and decide on purchasing the car.
In reply to query put forth by sources, Maruti Suzuki Spokesperson said, “accepting bookings for the Ciaz is in no way an unfair trade practice and nor does it violate consumer rights. The company accepts a token amount which is adjusted against the price of the car at the time of purchase. Customers are free to cancel their booking at any stage in which case the token booking amount is fully refunded.” Detailed report on the legal proceeding against Maruti Suzuki, if any, shall be known in a while.
Source: ET
