E-Paper
ITC Limited to pay ₹1 lakh compensation to customer. Here's why
A consumer court found the company guilty of ‘unfair trade practices.’
A consumer court has directed ITC Limited to pay ₹1 lakh to a consumer as compensation. The petitioner, Chennai-based P Dillibabu, had accused the company of cheating its customers to the tune of almost ₹30 lakh per day.
The complaint stemmed from an incident that happened in December 2021.
The case
According to the Times of India, Dillibabu, who was visiting Manali, had purchased two dozen ‘Sun Feast Marie Light’ biscuits from a retail store. On opening the packets, however, he found one biscuit less in what the wrapper branded as a 16-biscuit pack.
He approached the store, and then ITC, for explanation, but neither gave one.
The complaint
Dillibabu noted in his complaint that the cost of each biscuit was 75 paise, and the company manufactured nearly 50 lakh packets a day. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggested that the Kolkata-headquartered firm was cheating the people of ₹29 lakh each day, the complaint stated.
ITC responds
Presenting its side in the court, ITC argued that the particular product was sold only on the basis of its weight, and not on the number of units inside it. In this case, the advertised net weight of the product was 76 gram, it said.
The commission, however, examined it, and found that it weighed only 74 gram. The respondent's counsel pointed to the Legal Metrology Rules, 2011, which allow for a maximum permissible error of 4.5 gram for pre-packaged commodities; the judge, though, disagreed, saying this was applicable only to items 'volatile' in nature.
The verdict
On August 29, the court held ITC guilty of adopting ‘unfair trade practices,’ and asked it to discontinue selling that particular batch of biscuits. Also, the judge directed the firm to pay ₹1 lakh as compensation to the consumer.
