Cuttack, January 13: Automobile dealers cannot charge any amount from a customer without giving a proper receipt. An order on this effect has been issued to all the RTOs with an instruction to take action against the defaulting dealers, said an official release.
In a press note, the State Transport Authority (STA) on Thursday informed that starting January 1, 2022, Odisha Transport Department is issuing Driving License and Registration Certificate of vehicles in digital mode. Resultantly, the fee of registration of vehicles payable by purchaser has been reduced from Rs 282 to Rs 140 on December 21 last year.
“However, it is learnt that some dealers are not passing on this benefit to the customers and continue to charge the earlier fees. Therefore this order has been issued,” it said.
It has been alleged that some vehicle dealers are charging extra amounts from customers who are buying two or four-wheelers. The government charges only registration and tax amount for new vehicles and hence, distributors should charge only that and not take any extra amount in the name of handling charges etc. If they need to charge any amount for a value added service a proper receipt has to be issued for the same.
The order further says that it is mandatory for all the dealers to display details of payment to be made by the purchaser for each category of vehicle on a notice board on a conspicuous place in their showroom clearly visible to customers. It should be mentioned on the board that no extra payment needs to be made other than the ones mentioned on the display board.
“All the charges whether essential or optional must be clearly mentioned on the display board. For all charges taken the dealer must issue a receipt. The RTOs will inspect the automobile showrooms to ensure that they have complied with the above instructions on notice board/display board,” it added.
