Wrongly selling consumer's car:Financing firm to pay over Rs1L

The apex consumer commission has asked a financing firm to pay over Rs one lakh to a man for selling his car, seized from him for defaulting on payment of loan taken for the vehicle, to someone else without following proper procedure.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) bench, presided by Justice V K Jain, passed the verdict while upholding Andhra Pradesh State Consumer Commission's order by which Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Ltd was asked to pay Rs 1.05 lakh to M Nagaraja.
The NCDRC noted that after examination of the record, the state commission had come to the conclusion that Nagaraja had defaulted in payment of the instalments to the firm and it was justified in seizing the car.

However, it said that the state commission had found deficiency on part of the firm in selling the car.
In its order, NCDRC noted that the firm had invited quotations from different persons and the vehicle was sold.
"...The counsel (for firm) is not able to tell us, as to what was mode of selecting the persons from whom quotations were invited by petitioner-company for purchase of vehicle.

"In these circumstances it would be safe to infer that the quotations were invited by petitioner-company from persons of its own choice, without due regard to the interests of the complainant," it said.

The NCDRC added that the firm, before selling the car, should have given a public notice in a newspaper, widely circulated in the locality where the vehicle was to be sold.
"...A fair opportunity was required to be given to the members of the public including the complainant to participate in the process of the sale of the vehicle. That obviously did not happen in this case," it said.
"Consequently, neither the complainant, nor the members of public at large got an opportunity to participate in the sale process. As a result, it cannot be said that the vehicle sold by the petitioner-company fetched an optimum price in the process adopted by the petitioner-company for its sale," it said.