Ahmedabad: A car owner who left his vehicle at a company-authorised workshop for accident repairs was surprised to find, via his FASTag alerts, that the car had apparently crossed a toll plaza in Haryana while it was meant to be in the service centre’s custody.
The discovery of a Rs 80 deduction from the owner’s FASTag account triggered a consumer dispute that has ended with the Gujarat State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordering Tata’s authorised service centre Riya Autolink to pay Rs 60,000, holding it guilty of deficiency in service. Dr Dinesh Thakur, who bought the car in 2020, placed it for repairs at Riya Autolink in Bopal on Aug 5, 2023, after an accident. On Sept 5, 2023, he received a message stating that Rs 80 had been deducted from his FASTag account at Daula Toll Plaza at Kherki on the Jaipur-Delhi highway a day earlier, raising questions about how the vehicle could have reached a toll plaza hundreds of kilometres away while supposedly undergoing repairs.
The bank said it was willing to refund the amount, but maintained there was no deficiency on its part as it had no control over the vehicle’s movement while it was in the service centre’s custody. Thakur then travelled abroad. Thakur approached the Ahmedabad District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission. The district panel ordered IDFC First Bank Ltd to refund the deducted amount, but did not award compensation. The service centre denied taking the vehicle outside the workshop and cited gate-pass records. It also argued that a FASTag deduction alone could not prove the car had been moved by the workshop.
Thakur then appealed before the state commission, seeking compensation from the service centre for allowing the vehicle to move without his permission.
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It said the FASTag transaction certificate and fitment certificate established that the tag linked to Thakur’s vehicle was used at the Haryana toll plaza. The commission noted that the service centre’s evidence “is insufficient by itself to conclusively establish that the vehicle was never moved outside the workshop… The documentary record supports appellant’s case that the FASTag linked to his vehicle was recorded as having been used at Kherki Daula Plaza on Sept 4, 2023, and that Rs 80 was deducted towards toll charges. ” The commission ordered the service centre to pay Rs 50,000 in compensation for deficiency in service and Rs 10,000 towards litigation costs. The state commission found no fault with the bank, but rejected the service centre’s defence. Download the TOI App.