[drsingh]

@idea

I am proud of you bro.I hate being cheated too!
I would rather give away money to charity or to my favourite chaiwala /mechanic who are much more like friends and care about making me feel good that I chose their service for their quality.
I ask for 5 rs change that all showrooms conveniently forget and tip my tea guy more

[aditya101]

Folks - no need to feel "cheated" or missing out any discount. Fact is that the costs are ultimately paid for by the customer. Would it be of consolation to us that manufacturers increase the ex-showroom price in lieu of the logistics charges?

I recently took up the matter related to the Logistics Charges with Hyundai Motor Plaza (HMP), New Delhi. Members may know that HMP is a company owner showroom. For good measure I took a print out of the authority notice to the dealership as well.

The dealer instead showed me original court order dated 20-Apr-2012 that clearly mentioned that:

(a) Dealer has to quote any additional charges separate from registry charges (i.e. Logistics charges have to be quoted separately).

(b) The association for automobile dealers (dont remember the exact name), submitted to court that they incur charges as below and hence have to pass on same to customer:
- Fuel provided on delivery
- Trade insurance
- Transport insurance
- Stockyard maintenance
- Driver and personel expenses
- Fuel consumed in transit

(c) Court will not intervene in the matter as long as buyer and seller agree on the same (i.e. buyer may choose not to buy the car)

Hyundai Sales Manager clarified, that there is no way that the company would quote a charge that was not legal or justified. The same will reflect on the bill that will be provided on purchase. Moreover, the charges were uniform for all models and all dealerships in the city - and were printed clearly on the price list. Some dealers to waive off the same as a discount (like nowadays on Petrol cars), but not because it was deemed illegal.

Upon raising the point that why should customer bear these costs above the "Ex-Showroom" cost (it is not "Ex-Works" cost for example) - he agreed that the terminology is confusing but nevertheless is an industry practice in all brands.

[blackfire_9]

Well, I think & reiterate that this is "cheating". Your logic that one shouldn't feel cheated just because the manufacturer can increase the ex-showroom prices of its cars, does not appeal to me. If we think this way then any sort of over-charging shouldn't bother us, but it is not right.

If the manufacturer wants to pocket a bigger margin, they should go ahead & increase the price but it is wrong to use "guises" such as that of logistic charges.

Originally Posted by aditya101

Folks - no need to feel "cheated" or missing out any discount. Fact is that the costs are ultimately paid for by the customer. Would it be of consolation to us that manufacturers increase the ex-showroom price in lieu of the logistics charges?

Upon raising the point that why should customer bear these costs above the "Ex-Showroom" cost (it is not "Ex-Works" cost for example) - he agreed that the terminology is confusing but nevertheless is an industry practice in all brands.

[aditya101]

Let me get across my point in another example.

In Delhi there are different taxes for cars above and below 4,00,000/- In earlier days most cars would be priced below this point. I believe (willing to be corrected) that this trend of levying logistics charges first started with vehicles which were nearabouts this limit. The ex-showroom cost was kept to minimum and additional charges asked for separately. This ultimately benefited the customer as difference in duty was significant.

I would call it cheating if these charges were not published officially and asked to be paid off the bill.

[speedmiester]

After the Delhi high court, now the Apex court has come down hard on the automobile dealers for charging money for logistics and other charges.

SC slams car dealers for illegal charges

More than the court, it's the consumers that needs to awaken and question these charges. Unless we take it up as an issue, the dealers will continue to fleece consumers.

[lapis_lazuli]

Or is it the actual incentive/commission paid to the salesguy in disguise of handling charges? The base salaries, what I gather, can be quite low for the sales people at the dealership. Again, it is just my guess.

[SDP]

Just came across this a few minutes back.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sc...arges/1007304/

Some interesting snippets:

car dealers ..continue to levy thousands of rupees from buyers towards logistics and other charges without government authorisation, the Supreme Court on Monday sought an explanation from them after questioning the very foundation of these miscellaneous charges

..a petition filed by C Rajaram ...alleged that malpractices were being carried out by car dealers in Delhi as they charged fees for handling, loading-unloading, service and logistics in an unauthorised and illegal manner.

The petitioner said the charges vary between Rs 3,500 and Rs 25,000 per vehicle, depending on the make and cost. A sum of more than Rs 550 crore has been collected by car dealers since 1999, it claimed.

“What do you mean you charge for petrol, too? Is a buyer expected to lift the car in his pocket to a petrol pump? He cannot tow it to a pump. You sell a product that runs on petrol so you cannot expect to deliver it without the fuel. Why cannot you deliver it at their homes?” the Bench said.

A good rap on the knuckles! About time the dealers are taken to task.

[SDP]

One more instance of claiming the handling charges back (at least partially).
Quoting from my ownership thread:

...
Dealer - Registration and Handling charges -> Rs 4,949
...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Questioned the dealer about the handling charges being too high. He gave me some stories. I argued that unless you send a scientist for standing in 2 queues for the RTO payment and showing the vehicle to the inspector, almost 5000 Rs for half a day of manual work sounds too high .
Finally, he has agreed to knock off Rs 2200 from the handling charges. Yet to receive the refund.
Update:
Finally, after one and half months, I got back Rs 1,750 from the dealer!

[sgiitk]

I wish the SC had also taken the pants off the RTOs. Arguably, the most corrupt entity there is in our system. Ordered them to be made on-line and transparent!

[mahadev_kc]

Im being cheated or already got cheated by the YAMAHA dealers in Bangalore.
No one will sell the vehicle without these charges, even if I want to get it registered myself. Im ready to go through the RTO hassels.

All the dealers are hand-in-hand. the SC or the authority should make the rules strictly.

But what can we do. We needed the bike and when every dealer in Bangalore is resorting to this, only a strict ruling from SC like the one they have done on sunfilm will root-out this issue.

Regards,
Mahadev

[rajeshchand]

I still see quotes from dealers in Delhi brazenly displaying the handling / logistics charges.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

I still see quotes from dealers in Delhi brazenly displaying the handling / logistics charges.

The SC or the RTO won't implement rules. Its WE that have to stop paying.

[rajeshchand]

Originally Posted by SDP

The SC or the RTO won't implement rules. Its WE that have to stop paying.

I saw a quotation of Skoda Rapid with my sis in law other day where those charges were mentioned, i have told her about the latest rulings, but then the point is they are ready to offer that much discount in the price of the vehicle but wants to show the same in the bill, to me this looks like a tax evasion technique.

[frequentflyer]

The Govt of Maharashtra has a Tax Calculator online
http://www.mahatranscom.in/tax_calculation.aspx
The tax calculated in my case for a Honda City on this works out to 60004/- The dealer has given a quote of 77000/- plus a Handling charge of 6742/-.
I have not paid this but paid a booking amount so far.
What recourse does one have? The Government web site FAQ specifically states this calculator has been placed on the web site to prevent fleecing by dealers.
Anybody who can tell a new buyer who has yet to pay the dealer an answer to this?

[ad75]

Had been to Maruti dealer here for an ertiga quote. They charge Rs.10000/- as service charges!!! Also over and above the toad tax they also charge Rs1900/- for road safety tax.not sure what it is all about.

And road safety tax?? that too our roads??.

See the quote!!