In Jaipur, the consumer court imposed a fine of Rs 5,500 on Reliance Retail for charging Rs 1.80 more on biscuits. The court considered not giving the advertised discount as a wrong business practice.
Jaipur: Sometimes even a small amount becomes a big problem. Something similar happened with Reliance Retail, which found it very expensive by charging just Rs 1.80 more on a packet of biscuits. A consumer court in Rajasthan has imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the company. This matter is from Jaipur. Here, a customer was charged Rs 1.80 more for a packet of Patanjali biscuits than the price mentioned in the offer. When the Jaipur District Consumer Forum ruled in favor of the customer, Reliance Retail challenged it in the State Commission. But the State Commission also rejected Reliance’s appeal and ordered the customer to pay compensation of Rs 5,500. This decision was given by the bench of judicial members Mukesh and Ramnivas Saraswat.
What is the whole matter?
This incident is of January 2021. Reliance Retail had run a New Year promotion campaign in which huge discounts were advertised at its stores. Seeing these advertisements, a young man reached the Reliance outlet and bought groceries worth Rs 276.50. When he checked the bill, he found that the 6% discount mentioned in the advertisement was not given on the Rs 30 Patanjali biscuit packet.
According to the offer, the price of the biscuit should have been Rs 28.20, but the company recovered the full Rs 30. When the customer talked to the store employees about this difference of Rs 1.80 and asked for the money back, they refused. After this, he decided to go to the consumer court against this injustice done to him.
What did Reliance say in the court?
Reliance Retail tried to defend itself in the court. The main argument of the company was that this packet of Patanjali biscuits was not a part of their New Year discount offer. He also said that the customer had not made any such complaint at the store, hence there was no deficiency in service or unfair business practice on their part. Reliance also said in its appeal that compensation for mental anguish of Rs 10,000 for just Rs 1.80 is excessive.
What decision did the court give?
The State Consumer Commission completely rejected Reliance’s arguments. The commission said that the company has not denied giving 6% discount in its advertisements. Also, Reliance could not present any evidence to prove that Patanjali biscuits were excluded from this offer. The 6% discount was clearly visible in the photographs and advertisements presented by the customer.
The Commission clarified that it is illegal not to give the promised benefit to the customer who came to buy the goods after seeing the advertisement. However, the Commission considered that the amount of Rs 10,000 for mental distress was a bit excessive in the circumstances. Therefore, it was reduced to Rs 500. But, for the unfair business practice of the company, the court ordered to pay a total of Rs 5,501.80 to the customer including Rs 5,000 as litigation expenses and Rs 1.80 overcharged.