Rs 25 Parle biscuit packet was 25g less: Kerala man wins Rs 50,000; 150g pack weighed only 125g

A Kerala consumer commission has ordered Parle Biscuits and the shop that sold its product to jointly pay Rs 50,000 to a Kannur man who discovered that a biscuit packet labelled 150 grams actually contained just 125 grams of biscuits.

The order, passed on 21 July 2026 by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Kannur, is a reminder that in India's consumer protection framework, a Rs 25 purchase can carry the same legal weight as any other transaction.

How it started


On 26 July 2024, Asique T.P, a resident of Kallayi in Anjarakandy, bought a packet of Parle 20-20 Butter Cookies from Metro Hyper Market in Chakkarakkal, Kannur. The packet was priced at Rs 25 and carried a printed declaration of 150 grams net weight.

When he got home, the packet felt lighter than it should. He took it to a nearby shop to weigh it. The scale confirmed his suspicion. The packet was short.

Rather than let it go, he filed a consumer complaint.

What the lab found

The commission sent the biscuit packet, biscuits and all, to the Legal Metrology Department in Kannur for an official weight test. The department's report, marked as Ext. X1 in the proceedings, recorded the gross weight of the packet at just 126.16 grams. Against a declared net weight of 150 grams, the shortfall was roughly 25 grams, about one-sixth of what the packet promised.

This is not a trivial margin. Under India's Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, manufacturers are required to ensure that the net quantity of a packaged product matches what is printed on the label. A shortfall of this scale is a clear violation.

Parle's defence: maybe it is a fake

Parle Biscuits did not accept the finding quietly. The company filed a detailed defence arguing that its manufacturing process is fully automated, with biscuits mixed, baked, cooled, and packed entirely by machines, and that underweight packets are rejected at the assembly line itself. It argued it had not cheated any customer and said the complainant had never contacted the company directly to raise his concern.

In a second version filed after the complaint was amended, Parle raised a more pointed argument: the packet might not be genuine. The company pointed to what it described as inconsistencies in the printing on the wrapper, including the date format, batch code, and expiry period, suggesting these did not match its standard packaging format.

The commission examined these claims carefully and rejected them.

The retailer, Metro Hyper Market, had already stated in its own written response that the product belonged to Parle. The commission noted that if Parle genuinely believed the product was fake and that the retailer had falsely attributed it to Parle, it would have taken legal action against the retailer. It had not done so. The commission drew a straightforward inference from that silence: the product was Parle's.

The retailer tried to step aside too

Metro Hyper Market's position was that it is only a retailer, that it had no knowledge of the underweight issue until the complaint was filed, and that if there was a manufacturing defect, the responsibility lay entirely with Parle.

The commission did not accept this either.

It made a clear statement on the point: a seller cannot walk away from liability simply because it did not manufacture the product. The product should be weighed before it is purchased by the seller. Selling an underweight product, regardless of who packed it, constitutes an unfair trade practice on the part of the seller as well.

This is an important principle. It places an affirmative duty on retailers to verify what they are putting on their shelves, not just pass the blame upstream to the manufacturer when something goes wrong.

What the commission ordered

The commission allowed the complaint in part and directed both parties to pay compensation. Parle Biscuits was ordered to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation and Rs 10,000 towards litigation expenses. Metro Hyper Market was directed to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 towards litigation expenses, bringing the total payout to Rs 50,000.

If the order is not complied with within one month of receiving the certified copy, the compensation amount of Rs 35,000 will attract interest at 12 per cent per annum from the date of the order until full payment is made.

The commission also directed Parle to stop the practice of selling underweight products, ensure packets match their declared weight, and take corrective measures at the manufacturing level.

Check the case judgement here: