Ahmedabad: Biscuits undergo weight loss, consumer forum asks company to pay up

A consumer forum in Ahmedabad city directed Britannia Industries Ltd to pay a consumer Rs5000 as compensation and Rs1000 for legal fees after the latter was sold biscuits that weighed lower than what was mentioned on the packaging.

The forum also asked the industry to deposit Rs 25000 in the consumer welfare fund. The matter pertained to one Lalji Patel, a resident of Naranpura who had had in July 2012 bought six packets of Marie biscuits manufactured by the company from a local shop.

Patel on receiving the biscuits felt that they were underweight and got them weighed in a ISO certified weighing company. It was found that against the 122 gm mentioned on the packaging, the actual weight of four of the packets were 104gm, 112 gm , 114 gm and 117 gm. He approached the shopkeeper who too weighed it and found that the biscuits weighed less than what was mentioned but refused to refund the money. Patel then dragged the company to the consumer forum and sought Rs97000 for mental torture and Rs 10000 for legal expenses.

The company in its defence said that it has the highest manufacturing quality and its production facilities are of international standards. Due to the mechanical packaging, sometimes there would be some minor difference in the weight of the product and that standardised error in weight was permitted upto a certain limit.

It further argued that apart from packing several other factors like weather, transportation etc also influenced the weight of the product.

It also argued that the error was inadvertent and was not intended to cheat and hence it cannot be accused of unfair trade practices. The company also said that it had offered to replace as well as refund the cost of the biscuit which the consumer hadn't agreed to.

It further said that though the consumer had shown a bill of the product, the bill did not mention the details of the product brought. It also questioned as to why the consumer decided to weigh the product in a government lab 77 days after he first bought it.

The forum said that the biscuits in question had been weighed in both private and government labs and in all the instances the weight was lower than what was mentioned. It further said that one of the packets had 15gm less than the standard error in weight that was allowed for. It thus did not entertain the company's argument that it was an inadvertent error stating that inadvertently none of the biscuits seemed to weigh more than what was mentioned.

It also dismissed the queries about the bill not mentioning details of the product on the grounds that the shopkeeper had confirmed that the consumer had bought the packets.

It said that while this customer was vigilant enough to notice the lower weight several others may have been duped because an entire lot had lower weight than usual.