Secunderabad: Driver suffers burns in service centre, gets Rs 8.7 lakh

SECUNDERABAD: A district consumer forum here directed an authorized dealer and service centre of Ashok Leyland in Secunderabad , to pay a sum of Rs 8.7 lakh as compensation to a consumer who suffered from burn injuries at the service centre.
A Padmaiah, the complainant, was a bus driver who accompanied the owner of the bus, K Thirupathi Reddy to the Automotive Manufacturers Private Ltd to get brakes of the bus checked.He alleged that after checking for air leakages using anti-rust spray, the technician asked him to adjust the rare view mirror as per his convenience.
He alleged that while he was adjusting the mirror, the technician from the service centre removed the jockey and brought down the bus to the ground in a negligent manner. This led to the anti-rust spray falling down and coming in contact with the electrical battery of the vehicle. He said that within seconds flames engulfed the driver’s cabin and despite jumping out of the bus immediately, he suffered severe burns on his hands, legs, chest, face and other parts of the body.
Padmaiah said that the staff at the service center requested him to not lodge a complaint and assured to take care of all the medical expenses. However, he claimed that after dogging the issue for several days, they finally paid only Rs 45, 000 out of Rs 1, 08,216.
The service centre representatives, in their written version, denied all allegations. They said that there is no privity of contract between them and the complainant as he did not avail of any services and claimed that he is not a ‘consumer’ as per the definition of the act. The service centre r alleged that the accident took place because of the complainant’s negligence as he closed the door with force and claimed that it was not their mistake and were not liable to pay any compensation.
The bench noticed that the fire was caused by toppling of the spray bottle caused by the negligence of the employee. “Even if it is assumed for a moment that the narration of opposite parties is true, the cause of flames was due to the toppling of anti-rust spray, left open by their technician. Thus, there is a negligence on their part,” said the forum.