Karnal, May 5 -- An Ambala court has ordered the replacement of an Audi Q3 SUV worth Rs.43 lakh after the buyer complained of instrument cluster malfunction. The court of Neena Sandhu, president of the district consumer disputes redressal commission, also asked the dealer and manufacturer in its order to pay Rs.7,000 for mental agony and physical harassment suffered by the complainant and Rs.5,000 as litigation cost. The bench, also comprising members Ruby Sharma and Vinod Kumar Sharma, delivered its order on April 20. According to the order copy released on April 27, the complainant, Rajesh Batra had approached the commission through his counsel Naveen Gupta on January 29 this year. He demanded a replacement and Rs.2 lakh for mental pain and other compensation as well as Rs.33,000 for litigation expenses from Chandigarh-based Karan Grover, the owner of Ashwani Automobiles Ltd, Industrial Area, Phase-I, Chandigarh, his firm and Audi India Division of Sakoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd, Goregaon (East) Mumbai, the manufacturer. The complainant submitted that since he purchased a new Audi Q3 40 TFSI SUV on August 20, 2023 from the dealer at a cost of Rs.42.35 lakh, he has been noticing a serious defect in the vehicle from the very next day. It was alleged that the instrument cluster displayed "Safety system fault" along with continuous illumination of hazard warning lights and the airbag malfunction indicator, which caused grave concern and fear as it compromised the essential safety features of the car. "Upon informing the dealer, the complainant was asked to bring the vehicle for inspection. Despite multiple visits to the workshop, repeated diagnostic scans, and temporary resetting of the system, the defect persisted. Subsequently, upon detailed inspection, it was revealed that critical components, including the passenger airbag sensor and the wiring cluster connected to the airbag control module, were defective and required replacement," the complainant said. The manufacturer raised preliminary objections to the effect that the complaint discloses no cause of action against it and there is no deficiency in service on its part, while it deals only in wholesale supply of vehicles to authorised dealers on a principal-to-principal basis, and the retail transaction is solely between the dealer and the complainant. It was also argued that the complainant failed to produce any expert evidence to establish the alleged manufacturing defect, and mere allegations are insufficient in the eyes of law. The court noted that the dealer and its owner failed to appear and present their side despite being served. Since the proceedings were held ex parte, this indicates they had no defence against the allegations. "..the manufacturer appeared and contested the case but its defence was found to be on weak footing. No doubt, the vehicle was under warranty; however, a consumer who spends a huge amount of more than Rs.42 lakhs on a new vehicle cannot reasonably be expected to face major defects relating to safety systems like airbags, cluster fault immediately after purchase. The concern of the complainant regarding safety is genuine and cannot be overlooked," the court observed. The commission further said that in regards to the contention of absence of expert evidence, it is observed that the job cards placed on record themselves sufficiently establish that the vehicle suffered from serious defects in the safety system, which required replacement of critical components. "The dealer was bound to rectify the manufacturing defects that caused the air bag security system to malfunction, but it failed to do so," it concluded, directing the manufacturer and the dealer to jointly replace the defective car of the same model and specification free of cost....