Malls pass blame to retailers

MUMBAI: The legal metrology department had issued notices to nine malls asking why further action should not be taken against them after getting consumer complaints over smudged price labels and discrepancies, and incorrect packaging.

The malls that faced government action and the value of confiscated goods therefrom are as follows: Shoppers’ Stop (Rs 1.77 lakh), Infinity (Rs 5.17 lakh), Hub and City Centre (Rs 1.28 lakh), Inorbit (Rs 2.16 lakh), Hypercity (Rs 3.86 lakh), Austria (Rs 56,000), Huma (Rs 4.09 lakh), Raghuleela (Rs 1.48 lakh) and Nirmal Super Market (Rs 2.10 lakh).

“We are space providers, and the responsibility for goods being sold in the space is not ours, but that of the retailer. We haven’t received the notice yet,” said Yogesh Samat, CEO, Inorbit. Some retailers are, in fact, quick to pass the buck, blaming defective packaging and labelling of products by manufacturers.

“We cannot be really accused of selling over the MRP. Modern retail formats are known to give the best price options to consumers,” a top retailer said. The government department has begun legal proceedings against these malls. Unlike the police, the department gathers evidence before booking offenders.

It also has an authority to make out-of-court settlement by charging the fine equivalent of the price of the confiscated goods. But it’s mandatory for the “guilty” to accept the fault.