ITC Biscuit Case: This Is Not A Regular Thing
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-09-08 02:50:17
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
To some, Chennai resident P Dillibabu's case against ITC for one biscuit short in a packet would seem to be nitpicking. To others it would be taking things too far. Most people would neither have the patience of counting biscuits or weighing the pack they buy nor would they do anything if they found a biscuit short. But P Dillibabu is not among those 'most people'. On finding one of his packs containing 15 biscuits instead of the normal 16, Babu sought explanation from the shop where he purchased the item. He got none. "Aisa kabhi kabhi hota hai packaging mein aur hum toh sirf bechte hain, yeh company ka mamla hai" (This happens sometimes in packaging and anyway we are just selling the item provided by the company) is the most likely response he would have got. Not satisfied, he sought an explanation from ITC which, not understanding the power of the common man, imperiously ignored his query. Babu then did some backhand calculations. He found that ITC manufactured 50 lakh packets of the product in question. Going by the MRP of the pack, each biscuit in the packet was priced at 0.75p. Hypothetically, if the company put a biscuit less in each packet, it stood to illegally gain Rs 29 lakh daily. He made this finding the basis of his complaint against ITC in the consumer court.
During the hearings, ITC contended that the package in question (Sunfeast Marie Light) was not sold by number of biscuits but by weight which was declared to be 76 grams on the package. The court verified the claim but found that the packet actually weighed just 74 grams. ITC then argued that a variation of 4.5 grams was allowed in pre-packaged commodities. But the judge said that the variation was allowed only for environmental reasons and for some commodities (like bread, for instance, which is always declared as XXX grams when packed as it contains moisture and is likely to lose weight when stored for two-three days) that are 'volatile'.
The court found ITC indulging in 'unfair trade practices' and ordered it to stop selling that particular batch of biscuits (although that made no sense as the complaint was from 2021 and the batch in question would have been long sold out) and pay P Dillibabu a compensation of Rs 1 lakh. While the court was legally correct, it must be said that this is not a regular thing as companies are very careful when it comes to complying with Legal Metrology Rules of 2011. In this case too, it is being reported that the complainant purchased 24 packs and found a biscuit short in just one of them. Yet the case will generate consumer awareness and companies will be more careful about such slippages now.
