Consumers have started to witness Auto Policy’s benefits specially meant for their convenience though the government is yet to legislate some of the crucial parts of the policy.
In June, 2016, the government notified much awaited Auto Policy with an aim to invite investment, increase choices for the masses and ensuring consumer welfare through measures that safeguard their interests.
Under the “Consumer Welfare” section of Auto policy, a few features specifically relate to the purchase experience of the customer. The policy stipulates that automakers do not accept more than 50pc prior payment for booking the vehicle. Furthermore, if the delivery exceeds 2 months from the communicated delivery date, interest payments amounting to 2pc are to be made to the customers on the amount paid for the bookings. This was done mainly to encourage early delivery of vehicles and also to ensure customers get some form of compensation to offset the opportunity cost of booking as opposed to immediate delivery.
As per the policy, the law was to be formalized through an SRO, that would enforce it as a binding on the auto industry to follow this norm. Interestingly, to date no SRO has come from the government that mandates this consumer welfare practice.
Notwithstanding the lack of legal formality, Indus Motor Company limited (IMC), the manufacturer and distributor of Toyota vehicles in Pakistan has voluntarily commenced making late delivery payments to customers. IMC is presently facing with robust demand for its vehicles such as the newly introduced Toyota Fortuner SUV and the Hilux Revo Pickup and its flagship product Toyota Corolla, that continues to outperform the market.
In a statement IMC CEO Ali Asghar Jamali said that in view of extraordinary demand, certain Corolla variants have delivery period in excess of 60 days. IMC is compensating all such customers with late delivery penalty payments. However, he clarified that not all Corolla variants have long delivery times; certain models are available within the 60 days’ timeframe.
He said IMC has always been an industry leader in terms of introducing new trends and initiatives, aimed at creating value for customers. Earlier in 2013, IMC was the first company to introduce the facility of booking vehicles on partial payment, whereby a Toyota vehicle could be booked from as low as Rs. 500,000.
