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-   -   Customer supposedly paid cash for booking a Hyundai, but doesn't have a proper receipt (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-dealerships/194609-customer-supposedly-paid-cash-booking-hyundai-but-doesnt-have-proper-receipt.html)

Hyundai has been a company which has gained the trust of the Indian consumers the most in recent times, it has even managed to beat Maruti Suzuki in the JP power after sales customer satisfaction study. But some Hyundai dealers don't seem to share the same ideology with the company, they work the same way the "thugs" used to work in the ancient times. One such dealer is Roshan Motors in Jaipur.

A friend of mine booked a Hyundai Grand i10 sportz (O) AT with them in exchange of their old Maruti Wagon-R, paid them ₹1.90 Lakhs in cash and the remaining amount as cheque. They received the receipt of the cash they paid as the initial booking amount of the car but the dealership is refusing about them being paid any cash. Now the SR that handled all their booking procedures & car exchange process has fled, his whereabouts are unknown since January 12th. The dealership is refusing the validity of their own cash receipt & denying the delivery of the vehicle unless ₹1.90 Lakhs are paid again.

Frequent complaints to the company have not given any results. Now their hard earned cash is gone, their old Wagon-R is gone & their trust in the Brand Hyundai is gone forever. Such incidents not only cause financial problems to the consumers but also cause mental agony to them.

The credibility the company is dented unless they take any serious action against such cheating dealers.

Hi,
The above does not really look like a cash receipt.
Does your friend have original receipts (with dealer stamp), for all payments?

If Yes, then there would be various legal options available.
However, if No, then things will definitely be messy, as it is hard to prove if actual payment has happened or not.

Lastly, in this day and age, who pays 1.9 Lakh in Cash?

This is not a receipt at all. If this is the only document then as Abhishek mentioned your friend doesn't seem to have a case at all. He can file an FIR against the SA, however I doubt if he could be convicted either.

Frankly if I had been the dealer, with just this Booking order in hand, I wouldn't have given the car either. Also it specifically mentions cash payments to be made at the counter only.

Actually in smaller towns, a lot of people pay cash. It's usually legal, taxed or tax-free(agricultural) money. So, nothing wrong in it.

This situation is very unfortunate and it looks like the dealer and the car buyer both have been duped by a criminal.

Has your friend ever visited the dealership or was everything done in the comfort of his office or home. The above 'pink' slip doesn't seem like a receipt at all. He's been duped and he has to press criminal charges. Have the Wagon R sale proceeds gone to the dealership or was that also embezzled? Hyundai, it's dealer and your friend have been duped.

Restrictions have been placed now. IIRC post DeMo, the max allowable cash for a single transaction is Rs. 2.00 lakhs. That could be one reason why the amount paid in cash is Rs. 1.90L. If this legislation wasn't in place, the loss, in all probability could have bigger!

+1 to that. This is a booking form and not exactly cash receipt. Cash receipts clearly mention that particular amount has been received by dealership with a dealership stamp and signature.
I guess the Sales person fraudulently has not deposited the cash to the dealership and ran away with the money. If your friend does really have a cash receipts, then they can file an FIR against the dealership for fraud. If he only has this booking form, then it is really complicated.

Not impossible at all. Many families do keep that kind of money in term of cash at home. Even in my family, few of my uncles who have retired from Govt services do not deposit their pension in bank and keep as cash with them.

Very unfortunate but it's customers fault primarily for not taking cash receipt then and there.
Recently I was informed by my Tata SA that they aren't allowed to take any cash from customer for booking or for any service related stuff too. You need to go yourself and pay cash at their showroom cash counter yourself. That is a very good practice. We need to be vigilant about our own money cos others will take advantage as soon an opportunity presents itself.

Why does the booking order form only mention booking amount while other items such as ex-showroom price, registration, insurance etc. are left blank? Clearly this document may not be usable as a proof of cash payment. Did this transaction happen at the showroom? Would it be possible to see if some CCTV captures the handing over of cash?

As others have already mentioned this is definitely not a cash receipt. If I am not wrong, any cash paid upwards of 50K needs PAN Number & the cash receipt has to have a revenue stamp pasted on it, for it to be valid & legal.

Legally, your friend can't prove anything based on this form. He still might want to file a criminal case against the sales advisor, however I see a very long & tiring process ahead for him. I hope there was some proper documentation in place, when the Wagon R changed hands. Else, he might want to add that amount to his total loss value.

There are way too many loopholes in this transaction and hope people learn a thing or two out of this;
1. Who pays so much of cash without a proper receipt.
2. Dealership is saying that no cash was received - Why was no one else from dealership involved in this transaction apart from SA(Accounting department/Cash Counter people)? If there was someone else involved - what is his/her stand? If not, a big mistake.
3. Why deal in so much of cash that is if it is legal. Why not use methods which leave trails behind..

Your success in filing a criminal complaint will be helped if all this (cash payment & Wagon R's delivery) happened at the Roshan Motors premises and someone other than the SA was involved. If you/your friend go for a case of theft and cheating then make the dealer a co-defendant. That will get his attention. By the way this was done and the implicit trust your friend placed in the SA I get the impression the interaction was at your friend's premises. This weakens your case. Even if the cash of Rs 1.9L is hard to prove you still have a car theft case on your side to go for. The best and most experienced of us have been duped so don't whip your self. In June 2008 I was once duped of about 100X this amount (you read that right) in a business transaction and all of it with my eyes wide open and my ego wallowing in the honey that was being poured on it. Best of luck.

How well do you know this friend? Apart from so many questions raised by fellow bhpians, I also feel the amount has been forged in the document. Look at "1" and "9" of 1,90,000/- the ink shades on straight lines appear a tad darker. Something is not right here.

I have another observation here.
Note the amount is written as 190,000.
It is not the common Indian practice to write 190,000 a normal Indian practice would be by default 1,90,000 as written my mudhasir above.

Also the 9 seems to be extended from a 0.
Just my 2 cents.

Yet another observation.
Why is it hand-written? Normally is it not a printed invoice with an invoice number with all the details captured in their system?:confused:

It says clearly in RED on the document " Cash to be only paid at Cash Counter".

So if he has made the payment to the SA who has run away, the company may not be liable.

Maybe there were similar instances earlier which made them put this instruction in RED on the document.