Complains there is no provision that makes distributor or manufacturer replace defective spare parts, often leading to accidents
Chandmal Parmar has corresponded with the union ministry of road transport & highways, asking for amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. He has opined that as there are no directives that put the onus on the manufacturer or distributor to replace defective spare parts, this has led to a rampant problem of customers getting substandard components, leading to accidents.
In a fix: A mechanic works on a mangled car. Representation Pic
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Parmar, who is a member of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Accident Prevention Committee of Maharashtra, said, “Defective parts of a vehicle always create serious inconveniences, sometimes leading to fatal mishaps. Curbing this problem will mean curbing road accidents in this country. Making the present Motor Vehicles (MV) Act more stringent for manufacturers and distributors is the only way forward.”
Pic/Krunal Gosavi
Agreeing with these views, Pune Regional Transport Officer Arun Yeola said, “There should be some legal provision for checking defective vehicles, and amendments are needed in the MV Act. By the way, each vehicle has a warranty period and the customer can go to the consumer forum seeking justice.”
Garages lose business to LBT stir
About 200 two-wheeler repair garages in the city are losing 70 per cent of their business because of unavailability of spare parts, as the supply shops are shut down owing to the anti-Local Body Tax (LBT) agitation. The garages are open but mechanics can only do minor repairs. Avinash Date, president of Scooter, Motorcycle Repairers Research Association (SMRRA), said, “LBT is almost killing small garages as they heavily depend on spare parts purchased from suppliers. Now the problem has gone from bad to worse.” Sunil Deshpande, owner of a service station at Sadashiv Peth, said, “We are also facing similar problems while ‘servicing’ vehicles. I have not been able to repair four conveyances that have suffered badly in different road accidents.” Yogesh Parab, a young medical representative, said, “My scooter is lying at my mechanic’s shop since the last 15 days due to unavailability of spare parts. It is expensive to travel everyday by auto rickshaw to meet clients.”
To keep LBT at bay
To avoid LBT, two-wheeler repairing garages have put up boards proclaiming that they do not sale or purchase anything. “We are not buying spare parts out of Pune city, nor do we sell them to the customers. We only provide ‘services’. Therefore there is no question of clamping LBT to us,” said Avinash Date, president of SMRRA.
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