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New Delhi. Maruti Suzuki has decided to challenge the decision of Raipur Consumer Court to Grand Vitara. The consumer court had ordered the company to replace the customer’s car with an E20 compliance model or refund the full price of the vehicle.

Now Maruti Suzuki will approach a higher court against this order. The company says that the Grand Vitara sold to the customer was already fully compatible with E20 petrol and this information was also given in the user manual of the vehicle. The company claimed that the investigation had revealed the issue of adulterated fuel in the car and this important fact was not given adequate attention in the court order.

What is the whole matter?

This matter is to Raipur Consumer Court. Dr. Premraj Debta had purchased the strong hybrid Zeta Plus variant of Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara from Nexa dealership in June 2024. According to Dr. Premraj, the dealership had told him that the car was manufactured in December 2023, but later through the commission he got information that his car was manufactured in January 2023.

On November 11, 2024, an engine malfunction signal appeared on the dashboard after the car broke down. When the vehicle was taken to the dealership, it was told that the problem had occurred due to adulterated petrol in the car. After this the entire tank of the car was emptied and fuel was filled again. The customer lodged a complaint at the petrol pump and also emailed the company. The reply from the petrol pump was that there was no problem with the petrol available there.

After this the vehicle again developed a fault and was again taken to the Maruti dealership. The customer alleges that this problem kept recurring and the car remained parked in the workshop for about a month. After some time, the dealership informed through email that the engine had been damaged due to adulterated petrol and it needed to be replaced. The company quoted the engine replacement cost to be around Rs 5.30 lakh and said it would not be covered under warranty.

What order did the Consumer Court give?

After the matter reached Raipur Consumer Court, Maruti Suzuki and the dealership argued that the Grand Vitara model is completely compliant with E20 petrol. However, the court was not satisfied with the company’s arguments and ruled in favor of the customer. The court ordered Maruti Suzuki to provide a new E20 compliant Grand Vitara to the customer or refund the cost of the vehicle, approximately Rs 20.5 lakh.

Apart from this, the customer was also ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for mental distress and Rs 10,000 for the expenses incurred in the legal process. Now Maruti Suzuki has prepared to challenge this decision. The company says that it will present its side and technical facts before the bigger court.