Vehicle defects: PACP steps in to help customers

Muscat: The Court of First Instance in Rustaq fined a vehicle service station of RO100 and ten days imprisonment. He was also asked to pay RO802.500 for his failure to provide proper maintenance as promised to the customer.

As per the statement, the consumer had requested complete maintenance at the above-mentioned vehicle service centre, including changes of engine oil, air, spark plugs filter.

On receiving the vehicle, the consumer realised an unusual sound from the engine and that it had stopped spinning.

The customer then filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Department and during investigations, it was revealed that the inefficiency of the service centre led to the problem.

The garage had violated Article (23) of the Consumer Protection Law, which states "that the provider is obliged to provide the service to the consumer in a proper manner and in the event of a breach of that, he is obliged to return the value of that service."

The case was referred to the public prosecutor and then to the Court of First Instance for the judgement.

In a separate case, the Consumer Protection Department in Dakhiliya Governorate got a faulty vehicle replaced for one of the consumers with a new one, as part of the efforts to solve complaints through friendly means.

As per the details, the consumers purchased his vehicle from a dealer in the state of Nizwa, but during the warranty period itself, several defects appeared including that of the sudden stopping of the vehicle's engine.

The dealer did try to rectify the malfunction, but the reoccurrence prompted him to submit his complaint to the management, demanding the establishment to replace the vehicle with a new one.

The consumer protection took the necessary legal measures regarding the complaint and as per a mutual settlement, the dealer agreed to replace the vehicle with a new one.

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