Auto industry including components manufacturers on Thursday said that there should be better regulations for procurement of the spare parts in the aftermarket and the Government should not target companies.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) last month had slapped a total penalty of ₹2,545 crore on 14 car makers including Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Honda Cars India and BMW India, for violating trade norms in spare parts and after services market.

According to the CCI’s order, these original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were restricting access to spare parts to only the authorised service stations, which made the parts more expensive for consumers in the aftermarket.

“The car companies were also directed to adopt appropriate policies, which shall allow them to put in place an effective system to make the spare parts and diagnostic tools easily available in the open market to customers and independent repairers,” the order had read.

Spurious spares

However, the industry said the Government should first look at reducing the spurious products from coming into the market, especially from China, keeping in mind safety of consumers.

“Our main concern is the safety and satisfaction of the customers. The spare parts that are available in the market should be genuine,” Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer - Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, told BusinessLine .

Consumer safety

According to Surinder Kapur, Chairman, Sona Koyo, the aftermarket should be serviced keeping consumers in mind and OEMs should work with spare parts manufacturers to find a solution, so that spurious parts from China could also be stopped.

“We have tie-ups with our customers (OEMs) not to sell our products in the aftermarkets just like in other countries in Europe and the US,” he said.

“Like in Europe and the US, there should be proper understandings between the Government and the OEMs as out there, no one can locally start a garage to service or repair a car,” said an industry veteran requesting anonymity.

Here in India, he said, a person who is not well educated can also start a shop and become a garage mechanic. “So how can you expect the OEMs to share their diagnostic tools, which include software with such under skilled people?” he said. Sighting examples from the CCI order, which includes local vendors such as Julka Automobile and Omkar Automobiles, he said how can one (OEM) trust such garages, which do not even have proper area for servicing cars.

Addressing the annual convention of Auto Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) here, Vikram Kirloskar, President, SIAM, said, “The safety of consumers has been completely ignored by the CCI. There is a wide chasm between strict quality standards of OEMs and the independent free for all garages.”

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