A consumer forum in Chandigarh in northern India has ordered footwear company, Bata India Limited to pay Rs 9,000 ($181) in punitive damages after it reportedly “forced” a customer to pay Rs 3 ($0.06) for a paper bag that he had no intention to purchase.
The watchdog also censured the company over a "deficiency of services” and directed it to provide free carry bags to all its customers who purchase items from its shops.
The order was passed in response to a complaint filed by Chandigarh resident, Dinesh Prashad Raturi in February earlier this year.
In his plea, Mr Raturi stated that he had purchased a pair of shoes from the Bata showroom in Sector 22 on February 5 for which he was asked to pay a total of Rs 402 ($8). He informed the forum that the actual price of the footwear was Rs 399 and he was asked to pay Rs 3 more for the carry bag.
Mr Raturi alleged that he was “forced” to cop out extra for the bag that bore the company’s brand name and location details.
In its reply, Bata contested that the complainant was given a carry bag “for the purpose of environmental safety”-an argument that was eventually shot down by the consumer regulator.
"There is unfair trade practice on the part of Bata India in compelling the complainant to purchase the carry bag worth Rs 3 and if Bata India is an environmental activist, it should have given the same to the complainant free of cost," the Chandigarh Consumer Forum held.
It further said that brands which charge customers for carry bags that bear their logos and equity details are essentially using it as a tool to promote themselves and at the same time “minting money.”
The watchdog ordered the company to refund Rs 3 “wrongly charged” from to the complainant for the carry bag, Rs 3,000 ($60) for Mr Raturi’s troubles, Rs 1,000 ($20) to cover his legal cost and Rs 5,000 (100) to the Consumer Forum’s Legal and Accounting wing.
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