A Kawasaki dealership in Mumbai cancelled the booking of Ninja 300 after the customer questioned for the handling charges
In India, the tax structure is pretty skewered. Any vehicle that bought from a showroom has a series of taxes and charges that increase the price of the vehicle by at least 10%. Dealerships started exploiting the tax rules to slip in illegal charges in the final price and make money.
In the past, many courts of various states in India have announced such charges as illegal and have asked dealers to stop the malpractices. However, there are still many dealerships who keep on putting handling charges in the final price of the vehicle.
One such two-wheeler dealership in Thane, Mumbai cancelled the booking of a brand new Ninja 300 when the customer questioned the dealership repeatedly about the handling charges. The dealership quoted Rs. 56,875 as registration charges of the Kawasaki Ninja 300, which costs around Rs. 3 lakhs.
As per the price break-up given by the dealership, the road tax is mentioned Rs. 35,073, then there are other things like Safety tax – 2% of the amount, Inspection charges – Rs. 1,100, Agent charges – Rs. 10,000, Deport charges – Rs. 5,300 and loading/unloading charges – Rs. 4,000. The insurance is not mentioned in the above charges, which is unusual. Dealerships add the insurance charges in the final price too.
The customer was waiting for the delivery of the bike and the dealership was forcing him to clear the remaining amount. The customer then went on to send the links of the various court rulings that say that the handling charges are illegal. The dealership then said that they would not be able to remove the charges and they would like to refund the money instead. The dealership did not take the booking again from the person.
It should be noted that the apart from road tax, the dealerships are not allowed to charge any extra money. They cannot even force the customers to buy insurance from them nor they can force the customers to buy other accessories from the dealerships.
It has been happening for a long time and if anyone faces illegal charges like handling and parking fees, one should talk to the manufacturer’s customer care directly.