Owner of ‘blazing Nano’ to sue Tatas for Rs15 lakh
12 Apr 2010
The owner of the brand new 'Nano' mini-car, which caught fire on the day it was purchased last month, is planning to approach the consumer court in Mumbai soon seeking Rs15-lakh compensation from Tata Motors, manufacturer of the much-touted world's cheapest car.
Satish Sawant (37), a software professional, said he had received a Rs2.25-lakh cheque as refund from Concorde Motors, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, using which he settled his bank loan.
"Last week, Concorde Motors (the dealer) sent me a cheque of Rs2.25 lakh, the cost of the car including accessories, to settle the issue. After discussing it with my family and friends, I accepted the cheque and deposited in the bank to settle my loan. But the issue is yet to be settled and this amount can not be termed as compensation," Sawant said.
"I demand Rs15 lakh for the shock and trauma suffered by me and my family. I want to teach the company a lesson so that such incidents do not happen again. They (the company) are not responding to my queries. So I am planning to drag them to consumer court," he added.
On 21 March, Sawant took the delivery of Nano from a showroom at Prabhadevi in Central Mumbai and when he arrived near the Mulund-Airoli bridge on the city's outskirts, the vehicle caught fire. Sawant's family was also in the car, but no one was injured.
Sawant said he had also written to Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata and other executives of the firm seeking a detailed analysis of what went wrong with the car. "It's nearly three weeks but nobody bothered to inform me what happened on that day. I also want the company to apologise to my family for the trauma caused to us," Sawant said.
''Tata Motors had asked me to transfer the ownership of the burnt car in its name,'' he claimed.
"Tata Motors had requested Sawant to accept a new Nano or take refund of the money paid for the Nano that he had bought. He decided to take the refund. The company does not have anything else to say," said a Tata Motors spokesperson.