Points that need to be taken care of while dealing with www.emifreecar.com- Is it really EMI free?
Points that need to be taken care of while dealing with www.emifreecar.com
The following may needs to be persued before someone take decision to
buy car on Free EMI scheme on www.emifreecar.com
Emifreecar.com
has come out with a scheme as the name suggest. The prima-facie it seems that
the car can be purchased under EMI scheme however not to be paid. On the
contrary when we look at their web-site www.emifreecar.com
the following conditions are laid which stresses the need to be taken care of:
I.
Scheme
1. The perspective buyer has to pay a booking amount or down
payment of 25% of the cost of the vehicle.
2. Rest of 75% amount is payable in 60 EMIs for which the
perspective buyer has to pay for.
3. The company has got panel of advertisers for display of the
advertisements on both sides of the car which in terms of the coverage almost
to 60-70% of the area of the car.
4. While the customer is required to pay upfront for 60 months
EMI, he would be reimbursed for 36 EMIs in monthly payment system. This implies
that the customer is definitely required to pay 24 months EMIs. It also implies that the
company is resorting to misleading the consumers giving a feeling to the
consumer that no EMI would be required to be paid.
5. To claim for the monthly reimbursement pay out, one has to
drive a minimum of 1500 Kms. Per month. The month in which the vehicle has not
travelled 1500 Kms., no amount would be reimbursed.
II.
The following points need to be taken care of while making a
purchase decision:
1. Whether the advertisement is allowed to be displayed on the
both sides of the car, is not known. In my view the display of any advertisement
could not be provided as it distracts the other road users. Supreme Court has
already taken note of such distraction in the case where the big boards are
installed on the sides of the road and highways. Even if it is allowed, what
would be the responsibility of payment of fee and taxes to the respective
states municipalities? What would be the situation when your vehicle is being
driven on the roads of multi-states?
2. I have sent an email at the email ids provided by the company
on their web-site on 15th May 2014 seeking as to whether the
permission from any of the authorized agency for display of advertisement on
the sides of the car has been obtained or the customer is required to obtain
the same. The company has not yet responded to the email which caution us to
further take care for making any purchase decision. If the company cannot
respond to the email prior to the purchase, one can imagine what would happen
post-purchase. This is how someone has to judge the responsiveness of the
service provider or the retailer or the companies.
3. Surprisingly the contact details as provided by the company
in their web-sites are the mobile numbers. The company has got 9 mobile numbers
for the contact with the company and not even a single landline number is
provided. It is generally seen that frauds are taking place where the details
of contact numbers are mobile numbers as the same are available from telecom
companies without any proper documentation and the same are switched off or
changed when the customer faces problems.
4. I have already submitted an application under RTI Act 2005 to
Ministry
of Transport & Highways to seek details as
to whether any permission/authority issued for display of the advertisement on
the car. I will update the blog as soon as I receive the information
5. Since the scheme is not EMI free but by way of reimbursement
of amount, the advertisement itself is misleading. Any perspective buyer would
feel that the scheme would involve purchase of car on payment of some down
payment and then no EMIs would be required to be paid. On the contrary the
customer is required to pay compulsory for 24 EMIs.I am forwarding the post to Advertising Standard Council
of India (ASCI) who are responsible to take care of misleading
advertisements.
6. The company is compelling the buyer to drive 1500 Kms. Per month.
Is it not amounting to inducing or tempting the vehicle owner to drive
unnecessary and waste country’ fuel which need to be conserved. This problem
would be more prominent in small cities where the places of work/job are hardly
2-3 kms from residences.
7. Looking at point No. 4 above, what would be the Income Tax
and other tax liabilities as the reimbursement could be treated as your income.
8. To a question that "HOW MANY BOOKING HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE?" the company states that "Bookings are open and we receive unlimited queries every day. So far we have received an overwhelming response and we are still counting. So to quote a number would be difficult but you can assume that it is creating quite a stir among the crowd." It is not understood why the company cannot give such figures and stating that "we are still counting" leads to suspicion.
8. To a question that "HOW MANY BOOKING HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE?" the company states that "Bookings are open and we receive unlimited queries every day. So far we have received an overwhelming response and we are still counting. So to quote a number would be difficult but you can assume that it is creating quite a stir among the crowd." It is not understood why the company cannot give such figures and stating that "we are still counting" leads to suspicion.
Prevention is best cure then why not we take care before we make any purchase decision or transact any payment
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