16.
| (1) Where the owner repossesses under paragraph (b) of section 19 the goods let or agreed to be sold under a hire-purchase agreement, the hirer may recover from the owner the amount, if any, by which the hire-purchase price falls short of the aggregate of the following amounts, namely
| | (a) the amounts paid in respect of the hire-purchase price up to the date of repossession ; and | | |
| | (b) the value of the goods on the date of repossession. | | |
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| (2) For the purposes of this section, the value of any goods on the date of repossession shall mean the best price that can be reasonably obtained for the goods by the owner on that date less the aggregate of the following amounts, namely
| | (i) the reasonable expenses incurred by the owner for repossessing the goods; | | |
| | (ii) any amount reasonably expended by the owner on the storage, repairs or maintenance of the goods; | | |
| | (iii) (whether or not the goods have subsequently been sold or otherwise disposed of by the owner) the reasonable expenses of selling or otherwise disposing of the goods ; and | | |
| | (iv) the amount spent by the owner for payment of arrears of taxes and other dues which are payable in relation to the goods under any law for the time being in force and which the hirer was liable to pay. | | |
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| (3) Where the hire-purchase price is in excess of the aggregate of the amounts referred to in subsection (1), the owner may recover such excess from the hirer. |
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| (4) If the owner fails to pay the amount due from him under the provisions of this section or any portion of such amount to the hirer within a period of thirty days from the date on which a notice for the payment of the said amount is served on him by the hirer, the owner shall be liable to pay interest on such amount at the rate of twelve per centum per annum from the date of expiry of the said period of thirty days. |
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| (5) Where the owner has sold the goods repossessed by him the onus of proving that the price obtained by him for the goods was the best price that could be reasonably obtained by him on the date of repossession shall lie upon him. |
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| (6) For the purposes of this section, the best price that can be obtained for the goods by the owner on the date of repossession shall be
| | (a) the highest price offered to the owner for the goods in response to advertisements for the sale of the goods published in a newspaper circulating in the Sinhala, Tamil and English languages, such advertisements being published
| | | (i) within thirty days of the registration of the goods in the owner's name, in any case where the goods are required, by any law for the time being in force, to be registered in the owner's name; or |
| (ii) within thirty days of the date of repossession, in any other case ; or |
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| | (b) in any case where the hirer does not agree to the price referred to in paragraph (a), the value of the goods as determined
| | | (i) by the person specified in the hire-purchase agreement as the person who shall determine the value of the goods for the purposes of this subsection; or |
| (ii) if there is no person so specified, by a person nominated by agreement of all the parties to the hire-purchase agreement; or |
| (iii) if such parties cannot agree to such nomination, by a person nominated by court on the application of any party to the hire-purchase agreement: |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts