Automaker companies always try their best to offer their vehicles top-notch safety equipment, but still, sometimes things do not go up to their expectations. One such incident happened to Hyundai’s one of the best-selling SUVs, the Creta. Recently, a bench of the Supreme Court declared that if airbags do not deploy during a mishap, the carmakers will have to face penalties.
Shedding light on the whole scenario, a guy named Shailendra Bhatnagar bought the Hyundai Creta 1.6 VTVT SX+ on August 21, 2015, but unfortunately, on November 16, 2017, he met with an accident on the Delhi-Panipat highway. In this misfortune, the dual front airbags didn’t deploy and the owner, who was driving the SUV at that time, was badly injured and suffered from head, chest, and dental injuries.
Despite the damage to the right-hand (RH) front roof, RH front pillar, RH door panels, side body panels, and left-hand front wheel suspension, airbags didn’t deploy, so the car owner brought the South Korean carmaker to the Delhi State Consumer Redressal Commission, where the commission ordered Hyundai to pay Rs 3 lakh as compensation. It includes Rs 2 lakh for medical bills and lost income, Rs 50k for litigation, and another Rs 50k for mental anguish.
This decision was later contested before the National Consumer Dispute Resolution Commission (NCDRC). However, the NCDRC decided in favour of the owner as well. The NCDRC further requested that Hyundai respond to the complaint with a replacement Creta. The ruling was later challenged at the Supreme Court. And, once again, the judgement has gone in favour of the Creta owner.
On the other hand, Hyundai India’s counsel contended that the replacement of the vehicle was not part of the compensation and the reason behind the non-deployment of the airbags was that it was a side collision, not a frontal one. However, the bench of the Supreme Court, led by Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose, pointed out that in such circumstances, it is important to remember that a customer is not an expert in calculating such theories.
