HYDERABAD: A Himayatnagar resident was awarded ₹10,000 from a retail hypermarket for charging ₹3.50 from him on a carry bag after he purchased groceries worth ₹479.
Hyderabad Consumer Forum directed DMart to pay ₹10,000 for causing mental agony to V Narasimha Murthy and also return ₹3.50 towards the carry bag fare.
The forum gave this directive following a petition from Murthy against DMart, which had refused to provide their logo-printed carry bag free of cost after Murthy made the purchases on December 5, 2019.
DMart claimed it had clearly displayed ‘carry bags are sold’ signage. “Customers are not prohibited from carrying their own carry bags. Packers present at each billing counter fill the products/groceries in the customer’s bag and hand it over in a portable condition. We have a return policy of returning goods/carry bag within seven days from the date of purchase if a customer is not desirous of retaining the same. The complainant miserably failed to do the needful within the specified time and instead planned to procure undue gain/benefits,” said DMart.
The forum found fault with DMart and said it indulged in unfair trade practice. “The return policy was not explained to the complainant while issuing the bill. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered in an earlier case that Big Bazar should halt the practice of selling carry bags completely. It is the duty of the establishment to provide a carry bag free of cost to carry the goods,” the forum said.
In earlier orders, consumer commissions and forums said that a carry bag printed with the company logo should be provided for free.
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