Bengaluru woman wins ₹3k relief after suing Ikea for charging ₹20 for carry bag: Report

The woman sued Ikea on terms that mandating a carry bag with the company logo for all customers amounted to "advertising", which is an “unfair trade practice”.

A Bengaluru resident sued furniture giant Ikea for charging ₹20 for a carry bag with the company logo and won ₹3,000 relief from a consumer court earlier this month. The woman, identified as Sangeetha Bohra, is a resident of Bengaluru's Jogupalya and had visited the home goods store in Nagasandra on October 6 last year, according to a report.

Judges observed that the company was guilty of “unfair trade practice”, and that “the seller has to bear all expenses involving putting the goods in a deliverable state for the customer”. (REUTERS)

Bohra had purchased items summing up to ₹2,428, but observed that she was charged ₹20 for a carry bag. She raised concerns with the staff on why she had to pay extra for a carry bag, and asked that it should be made free for customers, however, when employees insisted that it is their policy, she was forced to pay the amount.

11 days later, she demanded a refund and sent a legal notice to the Indian unit of the Swedish company on terms that mandating a carry bag with the company logo for all customers amounted to "advertising", which is “spurious” and an “unfair trade practice”. The company denied the allegations, writing back that it is not unfair to make customers buy bags with their logo. The woman's demand for a refund was also denied.

The woman then brought the matter to the Bengaluru Urban first additional district consumer disputes redressal commission in Shantinagar in March. Her complaint against the retail giant was termed “false, frivolous, vexatious and liable to be dismissed” by the legal counsel of the company. “There is no direct or indirect compulsion for customers to buy paper bags and there is nothing suspicious about its sale with no hidden charges,” Ikea's counsel argued.

However, the judges of the consumer court - in their verdict announced on October 4 - observed that the company was guilty of “unfair trade practice”, and that “the seller has to bear all expenses involving putting the goods in a deliverable state for the customer”.

The court further ordered the company to refund the ₹20 collected for the carry bag with interest, with a separate ₹1,000 as compensation for harassment and an additional ₹2,000 for court expenses.