Hyderabad: Purchasing a vehicle and giving it out on hire to make a living makes one a consumer, the Warangal district consumer forum said and ordered insurance company IFFCO Tokio to reimburse the cost of repair of a damaged vehicle.
The consumer had purchased a Toyota Etios in 2012 and got it insured with IFFCO Tokio. In 2013, he gave the car on rent to an employee of the state government’s irrigation department. The car met with an accident two months later.
The complainant gave it for repairs and incurred a bill of Rs 74,000. When he claimed insurance, IFFCO Tokio refused to pay.
The company stated that since the policy was obtained from the Secunderabad office and the accident had occurred in Karimnagar and repairs were carried out in Hyderabad, the case did not come under the jurisdiction of the insurance company which was based in Warangal. It said since the driver did not possess a commercial licence at the time of the accident, the case was deemed invalid.
The owner then approached the consumer forum which rejected the claims of the insurer. The forum told IFFCO Tokio: “Purchasing the vehicle and giving it to the driver and purchasing the vehicle and giving it on hire for eking out a living are two different things and operating in different fields. Therefore the complainant for eking out his living, gave his vehicle on rent. As such he comes within the definition of consumer.”
The forum stated that the insurance company had no grounds to reject the claim even if the vehicle was being driven by someone without a licence at the time of the damage. It ordered IFFCO Tokiyo to reimburse the invoice of Rs 74,000 with an interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent per annum from 2015, when the petition was filed.
