The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-I, Hyderabad, has directed Spencer’s Retail to pay Rs 6,000 for overcharging a customer by a total of Rs 80 on two whisky bottles.

A bench of president B Uma Venkata Subba Lakshmi, and members C Lakshmi Prasanna and V Janardhan Reddy observed that collecting more than the printed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) amounts to an unfair trade practice.

“Whereas the opposite party No.1 has collected Rs 1040 which clearly shows that the OP has collected the price of the bottle was more than MRP which amounts to unfair trade practice,” the bench noted in its order dated May 29.

In another case, a Kerala consumer commission has directed the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) to pay Rs 25,000 in compensation and costs to a customer after finding that it charged Rs 10 more than the MRP printed on a beer bottle.

The order passed by a bench comprising president George Baby and member Nishad Thankappan noted that charging excess MRP constitutes ‘unfair trade practice‘ and ‘deficiency in service’.

“Charging excess of MRP by opposite party constitutes “unfair trade practice” and “deficiency in service” as per Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and in our considered view adequate compensation should be levied on the opposite party to change this trend,” the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Pathanamthitta noted in its order dated June 3.