26 December, 2007 : Hindustan Motors Limited (HML), India's pioneering automobile manufacturer received a jolt when the State Consumer Commission (SCC) in New Delhi asked it to pay Rs.11.75 lakhs (including the refund) to one Ravinder Pal Singh who was sold a defective Mitsubishi Lancer car. After his purchase of the new car in 2003, he was forced to take it for repairs frequently on account of a defective engine and other related problems.

India’s leading business daily quoted the President of the Commission saying “The engine is the heart and soul of a car and if the engine needs to be repaired or replaced within a few months of the purchase of a car, it leads to the inference of there being a manufacturing defect in it”.

The commission has asked the car manufacturer to pay the entire sum within a month. It has also instructed HML to either replace the car or refund the entire cost of the car if it doesn’t run trouble-free for a few years.