Shopkeepers say it with sweets, not with flowers when it comes to weight

Manmeet Singh Gill

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 29

Sukhmeet went to a famous sweet shop to buy one kg of her favourite barfi. The shopkeeper charged Rs 600 for the sweet after weighing the box.

Sukhmeet got only 820 grams of barfi as the standard weight of the sweet box was around 180 gms. She paid Rs 108 for the box. The seller gets the same box for Rs 10.

She is not the only one who gets taken for a ride by the sweet sellers. Almost everyone who buys sweets gets taken for a ride.

As per rules of the Legal Metrology Department, it is against the law to weigh sweets along with the box. The law states that the sweet seller has to first measure the weight of the box before putting the quantity of sweet ordered by the customer. Thereafter, the seller has to deduct the weight of the box to adjust the weight of the sweet.

Next time, when you go to a sweet shop to buy ladoos, the price of which is Rs 400 per kg and if the shopkeeper does not weigh the box separately, just consider that you are going to pay Rs 72 only for the box. Consider its weight to be around 180 gms.

As per the Legal Metrology Act, the sellers cannot weigh the box with the sweet and in case they do so, the customer has the right to file a complaint with the Legal Metrology Department under the Department of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

District Health Officer Dr Lakhbir Singh Baghowalia said the matter has already been brought to the notice of district administration officials. He said Sub-Divisional Magistrate Nitish Kumar Singla had only yesterday asked for a report from the Metrology Department.

Baghowalia said the fraudulent practice could easily be stopped if customers were aware and they insist that the box should be weighed separately.