The Hyderabad Consumer forum fined Supermarket Rs.15,000 for charging on carry bags with Company Logo categorized as an ‘Unfair Trade Practice’.
The complainant, More Megastore Retail Limited purchased a product from the opposite party Super Market with a bill at Rs.118 which includes the prize of the plastic cover which was given to him. The carry bag supplied by the opposite party on collecting Rupees 3/- towards its cost contains the company’s name and Logo for which the opposite party used the complainant as their advertisement agent at the costs of the complainant.
Using the Consumer as advertisement agent at his cost tantamount to unfair trade practice Under Section 2 (1) (r) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
A Bench comprising of Vakkanti Narasimha Rao (President), PVTR Jawahar Babu (Member) and RS Rajeshree (Member) said,
“The opposite party is selling the plastic bags having their Company Logo due to which Acts of them, they are using the complainants as tool of their Advertisement that leads to adoption of un-fair trade practice apart from deceptive nature of services and committal of spurious acts that should be highly objectionable.”
The Commission was considering a complaint filed by law student Baglekar Akash Kumar.
The Commission relied upon a recent ruling of the NCDRC in Big Bazaar (Future Retail Ltd.) vs Sahil Dawar, whereby Big Bazar was restrained from imposing additional cost of carry bags bearing company logo.
The Commission has held that disclosing the price of carry bags at the payment counter also amounts to un-fair trade practice. It observed,
“As a matter of Consumer rights, the consumer has the right to know that there will be an additional cost for carry bags and also to know the silent specifications and price of the carry bags, before he exercises his choice of patronizing a particular retail outlet before he makes his selection of goods for purchase from the said retail outlet.”
