ITC Limited has been asked to pay Rs 1 lakh to a customer for packing one fewer biscuit than advertised on a packet of Sunfeast Marie Light.
Background
It all came to light when a Chennai resident, P Dillibabu, bought a packet of ITC’s Sunfeast Marie Light biscuits to feed stray dogs.
He found that even though the wrapper mentioned 16 biscuits, there were only 15 biscuits inside.
He reached out to the store he bought it from as well as ITC for an explanation but did not receive a satisfactory response.
Complaint to the consumer court
He filed a complaint with a consumer court, noting that each biscuit costs 75 paise.
He said that ITC manufactures 50 lakh packets of biscuits a day.
So if it packs one fewer biscuit in every pack, he reasoned that the company is cheating consumers of Rs 29 lakh every day.
ITC defends
ITC argued that biscuits are sold based on weight, not number.
The net weight mentioned on each packet of Sunfeast Marie Light is 76 grams.
However, the court found that with 15 biscuits in each pack, it weighed only 74 grams.
Weight discrepancy
ITC then argued that Legal Metrology Rules of 2011 allowed a maximum discrepancy of 4.5 grams in pre-packaged goods.
The court rejected this explanation saying such exemptions are valid only in case of volatile products.
The rule does not apply to biscuits since they don’t lose weight over time.
The argument that biscuits were sold based on weight, not number, was also dismissed because ITC mentioned 16 biscuits on the wrapper.
Final ruling
The FMCG giant was ordered on August 29 to pay Rs 1 lakh to Dillibabu as compensation for adopting unfair trade practices.
It has also been ordered to stop the sale of that particular batch of biscuits.
