Hire-Purchase Act, 1972

6. Warranties and conditions to be implied in hire-purchase agreements.-

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any contract, in every hire-purchase agreement there shall be an implied warranty.

(a) That the hirer shall have and enjoy quiet possession of the goods, and

(b) That the goods shall be free from any charge or encumbrance in favor of any third party at the time when the property is to pass.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any contract, in every hire-purchase agreement there shall be -

(a) An implied condition on the part of the owner that he has a right to sell the goods at the time when the property is to pass.

(b) An implied condition that the goods shall be of merchantable quality, but no such condition shall be implied by virtue of this clause-

(i) As regards defects of which the owner could not reasonably have been aware at the time when the agreement was made, or

(ii) As regards defects specified in the agreement (whether referred to in the agreement as defects or by any other description to the like effect), or

(iii) Where the hirer has examined the goods, or a sample thereof, as regard defects which the examination ought to have revealed, or

(iv) If the goods are second-hand goods and the agreement contains a statement to the effect.

(3) Where the hirer, whether expressly or by implication-

(a) has made known to the owner the particular purpose for which the goods are required, or

(b) in the course of any antecedent negotiation, has made that purpose known to any other person by whom those negotiations were conducted, there shall be an implied condition that the goods shall be reasonably fit for such purpose.

(4) Where the goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement by reference to a sample there shall be-

(a) an implied condition on the part of the owner that the bulk will correspond with the sample in quality, and

(b) an implied condition on the part of the owner that the hirer will have a reasonable opportunity of comparing the bulk with the sample.

(5) Where the goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement by description there shall be an implied condition that the goods will correspond with the description, and if the goods are let under the agreement by reference to a sample as well as by description, it shall not be sufficient that the bulk of the goods correspond with the sample if the goods do not also correspond with the description.

(6) An owner shall not be entitled to rely on any provision in a hire-purchase agreement excluding or modifying the condition set out in sub-section (3) unless he proves that before the agreement was made the provisions was brought to the notice of the hirer and its effect made clear to him.

(7) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the operation of any other enactment or rule of law whereby any condition or warranty is to be implied in any hire-purchase agreement.

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