Westside fined Rs 13K for charging Rs 10 for carry bag

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Westside, an apparel store at Elante Mall, to provide free carry bags to all customers who purchase articles from the store.

The forum also penalised the store with Rs 13,000 for wrongly charging Rs 10 for a carry bag.

In a complaint, Sapna Vasudeva, a resident of Panchkula, submitted that she was charged Rs 10 for a carry bag by Westside store, needed for carrying garments worth Rs 4,000 bought by her in September 2018.

She submitted that it was nowhere mentioned in the entire store that the opposite party would charge for a carry bag.

In its reply, the store pleaded that the carry bag was given to the complainant only upon confirmation from her with respect to the purchase of the paper bag.

“However, we are not impressed with the same, in as much as if the cashier informed the complainant about the purchase of carry bag before billing. The same amounts to unfair trade practice and deficiency in service as it would have been odd and inconvenient for the complainant to carry new garments in hand throughout without a carry bag. In this backdrop, charges of such things (paper bags) cannot be separately foisted upon the consumers and will amount to overcharging,” observed the forum.

The opposite party also argued that after the ban of plastic bags, it started providing paper bags to its customers on payment of its price.

“However, we feel that banning of a product does not entitle the store to charge for its substitute. Westside and all other shops like it are obliged to provide carry bags free of cost to carry the purchased items to their customers, as customers cannot be expected to carry the items in hands,” stated that forum.

It is noteworthy that the carry bag, for which the complainant had to shell out extra amount from her pocket, was a printed carry bag on both sides, which had a prominent display of the advertisement of the Westside and was thus apparently serving as an advertisement for the opposite party, whenever the bag was carried by the consumer. In this manner, the complainant and other gullible consumers have certainly been taken for a ride by the store for advertising their name.

Undoubtedly, Westside has several stores across the country and in the above manner, made lot of money, thus, the act of the store by forcing the gullible consumers to pay additionally for the paper bags is surely and certainly amounts to deficiency in service and its indulgence into unfair trade practice, states the forum.

“Thus, on this account, we deem it proper to penalise Westside for indulging in such activity, thereby causing not only loss, mental agony and physical harassment to the complainant, but also giving rise to undesirable litigation and thereby wasting the precious time of this forum,” observed the forum.

The forum directed the store to provide free carry bags to all customers forthwith who purchase articles from the shop. It also asked the store to refund Rs 10 wrongly charged for the paper carry bag, pay Rs 1,500 towards compensation for harassment and mental agony and Rs 1,500 as litigation expenses to the complainant.

The forum also directed the store to deposit Rs 10,000 in the consumer legal aid account of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

What forum said

“However, we feel that banning of a product does not entitle the store to charge for its substitute. Westside and all other shops like it are obliged to provide carry bags free of cost to carry the purchased items to their customers, as customers cannot be expected to carry the items in hands,” stated that forum.