Costliest cookie: Indian FMCG firm slapped with US$ 1.2K fine over a single missing biscuit in packet

ITC Limited, a prominent Indian conglomerate, has been penalised with a fine ofUS$ 1.2K after a customer found one biscuit less than advertised in a packet of Sunfeast Marie Light biscuits.

The incident unfolded in Chennai when a local resident named P Dillibabu purchased the packet with the intention of feeding stray dogs. However, upon opening the pack, he noticed that despite the label stating 16 biscuits, there were only 15 inside, reported the Times of India.

Customer's quest for explanation

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Dillibabu promptly contacted his local store and ITC seeking an explanation for this discrepancy.

When he did not receive a satisfactory response from either party in response to this unsettling experience, Dillibabu decided to escalate the matter by filing a complaint with a consumer court.

Crunching the numbers: Cost analysis and consumer impact

In his complaint, Dillibabu calculated that each biscuit costUS$ 0.0090 With ITC manufacturing a staggering 50,00,000 packets of biscuits daily, the implications of this biscuit count discrepancy were substantial. According to his estimates, consumers were potentially being shortchanged by a whopping US$ 35K every day.

ITC's defence and its rejection

ITC's initial defence rested on the argument that biscuits are sold based on weight rather than quantity.

Each packet of Sunfeast Marie Light biscuits prominently displayed a net weight of 76 grammes.

However, the consumer court scrutinised the contents of the packet and determined that each pack containing 15 biscuits weighed only 74 gm.

The company also cited the Legal Metrology Rules of 2011, which allow for a maximum weight discrepancy of 4.5 gmin pre-packaged goods.

However, this explanation was dismissed by the court, which emphasised that such exemptions applied primarily to volatile products. The rules did not extend to biscuits since they do not experience weight loss over time.

Furthermore, ITC's contention that biscuits were sold based on weight rather than quantity was rebutted, considering that the wrapper explicitly mentioned 16 biscuits.

The verdict

As a result of these findings, the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) giant ITC was instructed on August 29 to payUS$ 1.2K to Dillibabu as compensation for engaging in unfair trade practices. Additionally, the court ordered ITC to cease the sale of the specific batch of biscuits in question.

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This case serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency and adherence to packaging and labelling standards in the food industry, highlighting that even a missing biscuit can lead to significant legal consequences for manufacturers.

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