[Shumi_21]

SOURCE

The Bandra police have filed a case against K K Motors - an authorised dealer of Mahindra's JAWA Yezdi bikes - for fraudulent activities against more than 10 customers. The dealership abruptly closed its doors and the owners absconded with Rs 20 lakh without delivering the purchased bikes. Meanwhile, customers were given various excuses, including damage to the ordered bikes in the showroom and the owner being hospitalised, before the dealership ceased operations.

Absolutely shocking this. More than 10 customers have been left in the lurch and the police expect the number to rise. The dealership in question is based right opposite the company owned RE dealership in Bandra.

Reminds me of a similar case that happened involving a Kawasaki dealership a few years ago.

[GTO]

People trust "Jawa" & "Mahindra", not the unknown person behind the dealership. Jawa & Mahindra should be the co-accused in the FIR here. If I go the local Maruti dealership and pay full money for a Brezza, it's because I trust Maruti. The dealership owner - Raghavendar Patil - I don't know from a fly on the wall (in fact, I made up the name).

Mahindra should step in and take care of these customers. Mahindra is 100% responsible for the dealer as it is they who recruited KK Motors as "official" representatives of the company.

They would anyway have a deposit from this dealership owner too.

[Axe77]

Fully agree. I’ve said this before too. We choose a particular brand of car, but there’s little to nothing we can choose in a dealership. We all may consider what the stability, solvency, reliability etc of a particular brand in a particular country is - we know nothing about even the financial condition or status of a dealership.

Car / two wheeler brands standing behind this corporate shield of being a distinct entity from the dealership really leaves a bad taste - every single time!! Consumers as well as courts should really proactively take them to task in all such matters.

[rakesh_r]

We have been buying or servicing Maruti cars from a particular dealer only, be it Mumbai, Pune or Kerala. While buying any cars, the first thing I do is check how reliable the serving dealer is. I had to do an exception while buying the Gurkha since there was only one dealership in Pune who is authorised to sell and service the Gurkha, but they have been in the business for quite long and they also happen to own showrooms of major luxury cars.
Feeling sad for the owners who lost their hard earned money. Hope the guilty are caught and punished.

[anjan_c2007]

We have "fly by night" ASC's these days and that too for reputed companies. In such cases, who does the prospective buyer believe? And rather than getting his dream bike on time, he loses money to swindlers for no fault of his! And then makes trips to the police station to get justice.

Sad state of affairs but its good to see that you've lodged a FIR.

[pcpranav]

Simply put - "Authorized Dealers" are the authorized dealers of the OEM. So the OEM should bear all responsibility for smooth functioning in all aspects of operations.

That reminds me of 2 incidents not very long ago:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...page-11-a.html (Paid for Z800, but no bike! Kawasaki uncooperative. EDIT: Bikes delivered (page 11))

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...v-cross-6.html (Paid 15 lakhs for an Isuzu, but dealer shuts down. EDIT: Owner finally gets his V-Cross)

Eventually, in both above cases, surely OEM resolved the matter to customer's satisfaction, vehicles were delivered.

[MS_Auto]

Looks like an unfortunate case of dealer not being able to manage their finances properly.

It is important that regulations with tight leashes be put in place to control such incidents.

OEMs can mandate dealerships to ensure all payments are directly deposited in the OEMs account specific to the dealer before a booking confirmation is shared with the customer by the OEM. No receipts should be generated at a dealer level.

Dealers can hence be paid their commissions by the OEMs from this account thereby keeping a tight control on the finances.

If this is implemented, then OEMs can easily step in everytime that a dealer goes bust as they have already received the payment and the customer interest is also well protected.

[pcpranav]

Originally Posted by MS_Auto

....


OEMs can mandate dealerships to ensure all payments are directly deposited in the OEMs account specific to the dealer before a booking confirmation is shared with the customer by the OEM. No receipts should be generated at a dealer level.

Dealers can hence be paid their commissions by the OEMs from this account thereby keeping a tight control on the finances.

If this is implemented, then OEMs can easily step in everytime that a dealer goes bust as they have already received the payment and the customer interest is also well protected.

a thought came to mind : on your above model, I wont fully trust the OEM's centralized account for few reasons :
a) what is OEM goes bust : already so many vehicle companies (incl EV 2W) in the market, this would only grow
b) long process to verify / cross-check the whole chain of events

Instead, could be look at having an "escrow" centralized account with RTO / Govt Agency, further linked to some deposit by the OEMs. This funda can be backed by some consumer protection acts. The delay aspect won't go away, but a larger stakeholder involvement would ensure customer is taken care.
With my limited knowledge, thinking on lines of IRDA or RBI to regulate.

regards,