Written by Reananda Hidayat PermonoCompleted Master of Science - MS, Petroleum Geology from Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Elon Musk’s Tesla faces two class action lawsuits about the rights that Tesla owners must repair their vehicles on their own terms.
The cases filed on Tuesday and Wednesday claim that Tesla is guilty of violating antitrust laws.
The company allegedly forces customers to come to it for service and parts.
Lawyers in the suits argue that Tesla has caused customers to suffer delays in maintaining or repairing their vehicles, only to pay supra-competitive prices once they are finally provided.
If those allegations are true, Tesla will face four counts of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act section 2.
This section prohibits monopoly, which Tesla has done for its compatible parts and repair services.
Besides, Tesla is accused of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act section 1 by prohibiting customers from seeking third-party repair shops.
The final allegation is that Tesla violated the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by forcing customers to seek service at branded Tesla locations.
Matthew Ruan, the plaintiff's lawyer, said the automaker company needs to allow competition for the servicing and sales of parts.
To make everything worse, the lawsuits propose any Tesla owner who has paid for repair services or parts since March 2019.
Therefore, this could get extremely costly for Tesla if the court forces them to cover all those repair costs.