Bajaj Auto has landed in trouble after consumer court in the city asked the 2-wheeler giant to pay Rs. 15,000 to a city resident Karan Pal Singh, whose scooter gave him 34 kmpl as against the claimed 74 kmpl and causing “mental agony and harrassment”.

The court has said that the advertisement were “misleading and deceptive” and  has asked to compensate the buyer, who was lured into buying the product allegedly due to tall mileage claims.

“We have taken a view that whenever any (vehicle) manufacturer sells his goods by claiming an average of 70 km…it has to keep in mind the consumers or the area they are targeting,” Commission president Justice J D Kapoor said.

“If they (manufacturers) know that there are no ideal conditions on the roads of Delhi or any particular region, they should not make such claims as it is “misleading, alluring, deceptive and unfair”, the Commission said.

“We have come across a large number of cases where false and tall claims are being made by the manufacturers as to the average of the vehicle and thereby the poor gullible consumers are prompted to purchase the vehicles but when they bring it on road, they find the average is not as claimed,” it said. 

The district forum had sent Singh’s scooter to Automobile Association of Upper India (AAUI) which found its mileage to be 44 km a litre.

Bajaj Auto has challenged the contentions of Mr. Singh and AAUI stating that its average was lower due to various other factors like traffic rush on the roads and the number of traffic lights.

 If this judgement is anything to go by, a lot of manufacturers are in trouble since almost all of them claim tall mileage figures in their advertisements offcourse stating “Under Ideal Conditions” using the smallest font possible, in the corner of the advertisement where its extremely easy to miss. Wake up call for the manufacturers… you bet!