Hyderabad consumer forum orders Chicha's eatery to pay Rs. 1,000 for charging more than MRP

HYDERABAD: The District Consumer Redressal Commission has ordered Chicha’s Asli Hyderabad to pay compensation of Rs. 1,000 and a refund of Rs. 40 for charging more than the maximum retail price (MRP) for packaged goods.

Lakkireddy Lokesh Reddy(26), resident of Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad, visited Chicha’s Express in Banjara Hills on April 11, 2021 for dinner and ordered garlic chicken kabab(K), two bottles of mini PET COLA (250ml) and two mini water bottles (500ml) and he was charged Rs.456.

Reportedly, Lokesh Reddy was charged Rs. 30 for 250 ml mini pet cola bottles while the MRP for the bottle was only Rs. 20. And he was also charged Rs. 20 for each water bottle (500 ml) even though the MRP for the bottle was only Rs. 10.

In total, he was charged an additional amount of Rs. 40 (for two bottles of mini pet cola (250 ml each) and two bottles of water (500 ml each)) in violation of the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the Monopoly Restricted Trade Practices Act, 1969.

Lokesh Reddy, who approached the consumer forum, submitted a screenshot of the menu on the company's official website, which listed the mini water bottle (500 ml) at a price of only Rs 20 and the mini pet soft drinks at a price of only Rs 25, which was above the MRP.

Lokesh Reddy also claimed that the ambience of the restaurant was unsatisfactory and since it was a drive-in restaurant, they had to eat in their car in an open area completely covered with sand, dust and dirt and the behaviour of the restaurant staff was rude and arrogant. He also claimed that the food prepared on an outdoor grill was exposed to dust and pollution, which were harmful to consumers' health.

The restaurant denied the complainant's allegations in writing, claiming that after ordering food according to the menu and eating it, the complainant asked the Chicha's management why he had been charged more than the maximum price for soft drinks and the water bottle, to which the manager replied that they were only charging according to the menu and that the additional charges were for ambience.

The restaurant manager also claimed that his staff neither behaved arrogantly nor forced the complainant to pay the amount of the bill and that the said allegation was completely false and baseless. They also claimed that there was no service deficiency/unfair trade practices on their part and appealed to the court to dismiss the complaint.

The court noted that Chicha's Restaurant did not dispute that it is a drive-in restaurant and that customers ate in their cars parked in open areas and that the food was prepared on a grill in the open area. Therefore, the court noted the assertion by the restaurant that they charged only by the menu and that the additional charges were for ambiance was undefendable, especially when there was no rebuttal to the Complainant's allegations nor substantial evidence presented by the restaurant to support its assertions.

In view of the above findings and the comments made by various forums, the Commission ruled that charging a price for pre-packaged goods above the MRP was not only an unfair trade practise but also violates the amended Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, which effectively prohibited dual MRP. Therefore, the court ruled in favor of the complainant.

The Commission ordered Chicha’s Asli Hyderabad to pay Rs. 1,000 compensation and costs and refund Rs. 40 over collected from the complainant along with interest at the rate of 6 percent per annum from the date of payment till the date of realization for charging more than the maximum retail price (MRP) for the pre-packaged goods.

The court also ordered them to immediately stop charging double VAT and higher prices on the pre-packaged goods.