E-Paper
Big Bazaar, Patiala, penalised for selling faulty products
The Patiala District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum penalised Fortune Retail Limited for selling faulty products through its retail chain, Big Bazaar, in two
The Patiala District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum penalised Fortune Retail Limited for selling faulty products through its retail chain, Big Bazaar, in two separate cases lodged by two Nabha residents.
In the first case, the company was found guilty of selling expired food products at a store in Patiala.
Atul Bansal bought a packet of Haldiram snacks. He then realised that it was expired. When he approached the seller at Big Bazaar, he tried to shrug off the responsibility on to the manufacturing company, Haldiram Snacks Private Limited. But the forum ruled that it is the responsibility of sellers to check the expiry dates of products on their shelves.
In the second case, the retain chain was found to be selling juice that had perished before the expiry date. The store did not entertain the consumer’s complaint regarding the same.
Deepak Banga bought packaged juice plastic bottles from a Big Bazaar store in Patiala. However, after consuming juice from one of the bottles, the customer’s family member fell ill.
But Banga’s complaints were not entertained even after a legal notice was served, said his counsel Yogesh Khatri. The product was well within the date of expiration but it was visible from the bottle that the juice had perished.
But the company failed to address the complaint, he added. In its judgement, the forum observed that stores like Big Bazaar have become popular and despite that, there are frequent complaints of malpractices against such stores which need to be checked through stringent steps.
Yogesh Khatri, counsel of the petitioners, in both the cases, said that the forum asked the sellers to pay ₹5,000 each to both the customers as compensation apart from refund for the sold products. The sellers were also directed to pay ₹10,000 each to both the complainants, which would be paid to the Army Welfare Fund Battle Casualties.
