Bata to pay ₹9,000 fine for charging ₹3 for a paper bag

The Chandigarh Consumer Commission recently ordered Bata India Ltd to pay ₹9,000 in fine for charging ₹3 from a customer for a paper bag to carry the shoebox.

Legal experts say the order is legally valid across the country and that stores cannot charge consumers additional charges for the bag if the product is purchased from the same store.

The forum's order came on a complaint filed by a consumer, Dinesh Prasad Raturi.

Raturi told the consumer panel that he had purchased a pair of shoes on February 5 from the shoe store located in Sector 22D. The store charged ₹402, which also included cost for the bag.

Raturi contested that by charging him for the bag, Bata was also endorsing its brand on the bag which was not justified. Raturi sought a refund of ₹3 and compensation for deficiency in services.

The forum slammed Bata for charging an additional amount for the paper bag.

The forum ordered that a customer cannot be compelled to pay for the bag, and that it was a clear deficiency in service. The consumer forum ruled that it was the store's duty to provide a free bag to the customer who purchased their product.

Sagar Saxena, an advocate based in Delhi, said: "This consumer court's decision is legally valid across India. People can cite this order anywhere in the country and have the bag charges waived. The order establishes that even if the bag is environment-friendly, the retailer cannot charge an additional amount for the bag."

The consumer forum observed that if the companies are eager to protect the environment, they should provide free environment-friendly bags to the customers.

Nikhil Majithia, an advocate in Delhi, said: "After this order, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs should come out with guidelines to protect consumer rights. Shopkeepers are not allowed to charge extra from consumers, as they brand the bag with their logo, so it becomes part of their advertising."

The Chandigarh commission in its decision directed Bata India Ltd to refund the cost of the bag ( ₹3) and litigation charges, i.e. ₹1,000 along with ₹3,000 as compensation to the customer for the mental agony caused by deficiency in services.

The forum also directed Bata to deposit ₹5,000 in the legal aid account of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

Comments

Cannot Wait for Dark Mode on WhatsApp? Here is How to Enable it on Android and iOS

What good is an app that doesn’t do a Dark Mode these days? Facebook Messenger does it, Amazon Kindle app has it and even the next iterations of the iOS and Android operating systems are focusing extensively on the darker side of things. That does make us wonder why the details about the final release of the much-awaited Dark Mode on WhatsApp for Android and iOS devices is still not confirmed. The most popular instant messaging app in the world may be rolling out a stream of updates and new features with very beta and final release over the past few month, but it could just be that it is waiting for the final release of iOS 13 and Android Q to roll out the Dark Mode goodness. However, if you really don’t want to wait, there are workarounds to get Dark Mode working on WhatsApp on your Android phone or iPhone, right away. If you are using an Android phone, you will need to be running a beta version of Android Q to enable the Dark Mode for WhatsApp. A lot of Android phones...

Airtel is offering free Hello Tunes to prepaid, postpaid users: Here’s how to get it

Airtel customers can now set their favourite songs as Hello Tunes for free through Wynk Music app(REUTERS) Airtel continues to offer freebies to its users under ‘Airtel Thanks’ programme. The latest is free Hello Tunes for its postpaid and prepaid customers. The benefit is available to all Airtel customers with plans of Rs 129 and above. Airtel users can get a new Hello Tune via the company’s Wynk music application. Users can change their Hello Tune as many times they want. Users, however, will have to renew the ‘Hello Tunes’ subscription through Wynk Music every 30 days. With the latest bundle, users will no longer have to pay monthly subscription charge of Rs 36 for caller tunes. How to get free Hello Tunes Step 1: Airtel users need to download the latest version of Wynk Music or update the existing app to the latest version. Step 2: Open the app, tap on ‘Hello Tunes’ icon on the top right hand corner of the screen. Step 3: Choose the song and set it as Hello T...

US government to issue licenses to companies wanting to trade with Huawei

In the development of the Huawei-US trade tensions, the US Department of Commerce will begin issuing special licenses to companies that wish to keep their business ties with the Chinese tech giant. The news was confirmed by the head of the Commerce of Department Wilbur Ross at the Annual Security Conference on Export Controls and Security. Late last month at the G20 summit, US president Donald Trump confirmed American companies will continue to sell components to Huawei granted that they doesn’t pose a threat to national security. Later on it became clear that US companies would be allowed to sell widely available components which are sold in other markets while more sensitive equipment would remain off limits. Commerce Secretary Ross stated that the new licenses will still have to oblige the previously issued component availability confinements. Furthermore, he restated that the Commerce Department will only issue licenses after evaluating the ...

Look in

Search This Blog