Anand Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra face fraud allegations over car safety promises

A case of fraud was filed against Anand Mahindra and 12 employees of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited for allegedly providing "false assurances" regarding the safety of a car on Saturday in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Rajesh Mishra, the complainant, claimed that he purchased a Scorpio car from the company, which lacked airbags, resulting in the tragic death of his son in a car accident. The black Scorpio was bought for Rs 17.39 lakh in 2020 as a gift for his son, Apoorv.

Tragically, on January 14, 2022, while returning from Lucknow to Kanpur with friends, Apoorva's car collided with a divider due to foggy conditions, causing it to overturn, leading to his immediate demise.

In response to the accident, Rajesh reached out to the auto dealership from which he had acquired the vehicle on January 29, pointing out the alleged defects in the car.

In his formal complaint, Rajesh stated that despite fastening the seatbelt during the accident, the airbag failed to deploy, accusing the company of deceiving him with false assurances.

Rajesh levelled allegations of fraudulent practices against the company, contending that had the vehicle been thoroughly inspected, his son's death could have been prevented.

The situation escalated when company employees engaged in a confrontation with Rajesh. He asserted that, under the directors' instructions, managers insulted him and his family, even issuing death threats. Following the accident, the Scorpio was relocated to the Mahindra Company showroom in Ruma. Rajesh maintains that the company did not install airbags in the vehicle.

A company spokesperson said in a statement, "Mahindra & Mahindra would like to clarify with respect to an FIR that was filed on September 23, 2023. The case is over 18 months old, and the said incident happened in January 2022."

"It was alleged that the vehicle did not have airbags. We would hence like to categorically reconfirm that the Scorpio S9 variant manufactured in 2020 did have airbags. We have investigated and there was no malfunction of the airbags. It was a rollover case which would not deploy the frontal airbags. A detailed technical investigation was completed by our teams in October 2022," the statement added.

"The matter is currently sub judice and we are committed to cooperating with the authorities for any further investigation that is required. We completely empathise with the family and offer our deepest condolences to them in their grief," the statement concluded.