Car Manufacturer Accountable For Failure Of Airbags Deployment - SC

In one of the recent hearings, the Supreme Court of India said that the failure of car manufacturers to provide an airbag system devoid of any quality and safety standard violations should be subject to punitive damages. The move comes in after an observation came while hearing an appeal filed by Hyundai Motor India Limited against an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) which dismissed the appeal sustaining the compensation awarded by the State Commission. Here are all the details that we know so far.

The complaint was filed by a Hyundai Creta owner concerning a defect in a vehicle, particularly concerning its safety features originating from vehicle model Creta 1.6 VTVT SX+. Purchased on August 21, 2015, this Creta met with an accident on the Delhi-Panipat highway on November 16, 2017, and had two airbags as standard. However, the airbags failed to deploy thus leaving the complainant suffering head, chest, and dental injuries. The State Commission awarded a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for medical expenses and loss of income, Rs 50,000 for mental agony, and Rs 50,000 as the cost of litigation.

Hyundai then knocked on the doors of the higher courts to challenge this decision and eventually took it to the hon. Supreme Court Of India. "We accordingly do not want to interfere with the decision of the National Commission. We do not find the reasoning of the Commission or the operative part of the order awarding damages to be perverse", the bench said. The owner, however, had his car repaired earlier on the insurance money and the top court, in its statement said, that this will not impact the quantum of damages which is partly punitive in nature in this case.

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