Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 12 2009:
In a judgment, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Imphal has directed a Fair Price Shop agent to refund the excess amount which he had charged to his consumers and penalized the agent by holding him responsible for "unfair trade practice" and 'charging excess price' apart from directing the DC of the district concerned to take up measures to do away with all foul plays which are responsible to frustrate benevolent scheme.
According to a judgment/order of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Imphal, which was made available to the press by the Human Right Law Network (HRLN) Director, Meihoubam Rakesh, two complainants, BPL card holders, (Elam Mani Meetei and Elam Angangcha Chanu of Nongpok Sanjenbam Khullen, Imphal East) lodged a complaint to the Forum alleging that a fair price shop agent (Athokpam Udoi Singh of Nongpok Sanjenbam Khunou, Imphal East) had charged them Rs 10 for a kilo of rice above the scale and price fixed by the authority.
The complainants had also alleged the agent of using a 'can' to represent a kilo instead of the measurement system of the land � metric system of weight.
After hearing the complainants' advocate on January 13 last, the Forum decided to direct the agent to refund the excess amount which he had charged from the complainants, pay a litigation cost of Rs 1000 for 'unfair trade practice' in using can in the measurement of rice and pay a litigation cost of Rs 1000 to the complainants, in total Rs 2389 .
In its order, the Court has also directed the DC of Imphal East to take up all measures to do away with all the foul plays that are responsible to frustrate the benevolent scheme.
Dispatching this judgment to the press, HRLN Director, Rakesh also informed further that the Fair Price Shop agent had already complied with the order of the Consumer Court by refunding a sum of Rs 389 which was charged in excess.
Rakesh also said that a sum of Rs 1000 as cost of litigation and another sum of Rs 1000 as compensation had also been paid to the complainants.