Case Law Details
National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs Harsolia Motors And Others (Supreme Court of India)
What is the meaning of commercial purpose under the Consumer Protection Act for reimbursement of claim on account of fire at the Godown of a commercial enterprise?
The Apex Court in this case was considering claim of the respondent herein for loss on account of riots arising due to Godhra Incident in the year 2002, when the Insurance co denied the claim on account of complainant being a company running a business and hence could not be said to be a consumer under the Act.
The Supreme Court however analysed the meaning of “commercial purpose” , “consumer” in detail and held that taking the insurance policy by a commercial enterprise cannot be said to have a close nexus to profit generating activity and it cannot be said that the dominant intention of the insurance transaction was to facilitate some kind of profit generation for the purchaser of the policy and/or their beneficiary and thus the commercial enterprise was a consumer under the Act and thus the appeal of National Insurance co ltd was dismissed.
The court did not agree with the submission made on behalf of the appellant that if insurance claims are covered under the Act, 1986, then virtually all insurance matters will come within the purview of the Act, 1986 and this will render the Act, 2015 nugatory. In our view, both these Acts have different scope and ambit and have different remedial mechanism, are in different sphere having no internal corelationship.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
Author Bio
