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1. Introduction
The Indian automobile sector is the world’s fourth largest market in terms of sales (India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), 2018). The Indian automobile sector includes two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers passenger vehicles (PV) and commercial vehicles. Of these, the PV segment has recently witnessed most growth as compared to previous years (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), 2018); in 2018, approximately 3.2m PV units were sold in India, and this figure is projected to increase to 10m units by 2020 (India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), 2018). With the growth in manufacturing of four-wheeler vehicles, the Indian auto components and auto servicing industry has also witnessed steady growth over the last decade. In 2017, the growing four-wheeler after-sales market meant that auto component industry sales reached INR 2.92 lakh crore (India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), 2018). The auto servicing industry recorded revenues of INR 20,000 crore, and this is projected to reach INR 3,400 crore by 2020 (Businessworld, 2018).
The auto servicing industry can be divided into two categories: organised and unorganised. The organised sector can be further classified as organised single-brand and organised multi-brand. Organised single-brand service centres are built by PV manufacturers to enhance after-sales service satisfaction by providing repair and maintenance services for PV owners. This work is often complex, and customers may not always understand the need for certain repair and service activities. In many cases, customers complain about the unnecessary replacement of components. While this may reflect the customer’s lesser knowhow about parts and their condition, it may sometimes be an act of fraud by the service centre. One common example is engine oil replacement, which is recommended by many service centres after the car has been running for a certain period of time. Many consumers complain that even though they believed that the condition of the oil was good, it was replaced and charged by the service centres.
The customer’s lesser technical knowhow in relation to automobile maintenance makes them vulnerable to exploitation by service providers. There is some evidence that even where customers agree to such a replacement, they may not be entirely convinced about the need for it, or about the associated charges. The customer can only make a guess about the fairness of the service (Giovanis