The agreement terms between OEMs and dealerships are tilted towards manufacturers, said Manish Raj Singhania, President, FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations), at the 4th Auto Retail Conclave in Delhi on Tuesday. He added it was time dealers got an equal say.
FADA is now focusing on improving relations between the two parties and has presented a ‘model dealer agreement’ to SIAM, ACMA, and OEMs for review.
'The model dealer agreement has been created keeping international practices and Indian laws around agreements and contracts in the picture. Its vision is to create more harmony and peace between dealers and OEMs,' Singhania said.
Highlighting some of the problems faced by dealers, he added that the model dealer agreement will remove insecurities in the minds of dealers. A quarterly meeting between SIAM, ACMA, and FADA was proposed by Singhania. Vinod Aggarwal, President-Elect SIAM,, noted that SIAM will be open to working with FADA on addressing dealer problems.
Vinkesh Gulati, former President, FADA, told Mobility Outlook that the last resort for FADA to address dealer problems would be the Supreme Court. 'If we do not get a good response from OEMs, we will not hesitate in filing a PIL,' he said.
The present contract act of India states that the agreement signed between two parties is the only legal paper that can be followed. However, FADA believes it puts dealers in an uncomfortable position where they cannot ask much from OEMs. Gulati was hopeful that most OEMs would agree with most of the clauses in the model dealer agreement.
Read More
Dealer Satisfaction Study Shows Improvements While Concerns Remain