Kuenphen Motors and EV owners lock horns over compensation decision

Both Kuenphen Motors and taxi drivers of MG and NETA electric vehicles (EVs) have appealed the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority’s decision to the Thimphu district court. On the 17^th of this month, the authority’s Dispute Settlement Committee directed Kuenphen Motors to pay compensation of Nu 30,000 each to all the aggrieved EV owners. Both parties are not happy with the decision.

Initially, around 90 EV taxi drivers filed a complaint with the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority against Kuenphen Motors for mileage range issues with two types of electric vehicle models.

For the MG ZS model, the complainants have alleged that Kuenphen Motors has marketed the cars to provide a total mileage of 419 kilometres. They are accusing the electric cars of failing to deliver the promised mileage range as mentioned in the catalogue. They said the vehicles give a mileage of 335 kilometres during warm seasons and 300 kilometres during the cold seasons on a full charge.

Further, the complainants also alleged that when they placed orders, they were advertised the MG ZS UK version. And that the Sri Lankan ones were delivered to them which had different features. The complainants stated that they were never informed about the delivery of the different versions.

As for the Neta EV model, the pre-booking form of Neta stated the mileage of the vehicle as 401 kilometres while the product delivered was 384 kilometres. There were also differences in specifications.

The complainants, therefore, requested either replacement of the cars or a refund equivalent to the cost of components that were missing through the authority. However, while the authority dismissed some of the claims, they asked Kuenphen Motors to pay Nu 30,000 compensation for failing to deliver the vehicles as initially advertised.

The drivers of both the EV models say the compensation is too less considering the amount they paid for the vehicles.

Meanwhile, Kuenphen Motors also appealed to the district court against the decision claiming they will not pay the compensation. They said while the mileage of the car is beyond their control, the prices for both the vehicle models were set in accordance with the standards of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.

Samten Dolkar

Edited by Kipchu