For packing one biscuit less, city court fines ITC Rs 1 lakh

CHENNAI: This, perhaps, is the costliest biscuit ITC Limited has ever produced, but failed to pack.
For having packed one biscuit less in its 16-biscuit Sun Feast Marie Light pack, ITC Limited has been directed by a consumer court here to pay a compensation of 1 lakh to a Chennai-based consumer.
P Dillibabu of MMDA Mathur purchased two dozen 'Sun Feast Marie Light' biscuit packets from a retail store in Manali to feed stray animals in December 2021.When he opened the packets, he found only 15 biscuits though the wrapper mentioned it was a 16-biscuit packet.
There was no proper response when Dillibabu approached the store as well as the ITC for explanation.
Dillibabu pointed out in his complaint that the cost of each biscuit is 75 paise.
He said in his complaint that ITC Limited manufactured close to 50 lakh packets a day and a back-of-the-envelope calculation would suggest the company cheated more than 29 lakh from the public every day.
In its response, the firm argued that the said product was sold only based on the weight and not on number of biscuits. The advertised net weight of the biscuit packet was 76 grams. However, when the commission examined it, they found out that all unwrapped biscuit packets (containing 15 biscuits) were only 74 grams.
ITC's counsel said the Legal Metrology Rules 2011 allowed a maximum permissible error of 4.5 grams in case of pre-packaged commodities. Not accepting it, the forum said such exemptions were applicable only for products which were volatile in nature or have the quality to get reduced due to weather conditions during transport. It is not applicable for items like biscuits which can't lose weight over time.
The defence that the product was sold not in terms of 'numbers' but in terms of 'weight' was also turned down for the reason that the wrapper highlighted the number of biscuits and forum observed that potential buyers will be influenced on what information is printed on the wrapper or labels.
On August 29, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Thiruvallur ordered ITC to not only pay 1 lakh to Dillibabu as compensation for adopting unfair trade practice and deficiency in service but also to discontinue the sales of the particular batch (No.0502C36) of biscuits. The company will pay another 10,000 towards the complainant's litigation expenses.