Haryana

Ambala

CC/351/2018

Manjit Singh - Complainant(s)

Versus

Big Bazaar - Opp.Party(s)

Samdish

22 Mar 2019

ORDER

 

BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM AMBALA

                                    

                                                          Complaint case no.        :  351 of 2018

                                                          Date of Institution         :  18.10.2018

                                                          Date of decision   :  22.03.2019

 

Manjit Singh S/o Ajit Singh R/o H.No.5005/2, MHC, Manimajra, Chandigarh.

  ……. Complainant.

 

Big Bazaar (Future Retail Ltd), Minerva Complex, Plot No.180/123 Rai Market Ambala Cantt. 

       ….Opposite Party.

Complaint U/s 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986

Before:        Ms. Neena Sandhu, President.

Ms. Ruby Sharma, Member.

Sh. Vinod Kumar Sharma, Member.

 

Present:       Sh. Samdish, counsel for complainant.

                   Sh. Ajay Chawla, counsel for Ops.

 

Order:         Smt. Neena Sandhu, President.

Complainant has filed this compliant under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) against the Opposite Party(hereinafter referred to as ‘Op’) praying for issuance of  following directions to OP:-

1. To refund Rs. 20.96/- alongwith  interest @18% per annum to the complainant, charged on account of GST.
2. To pay Rs.10,000 as compensation for causing  mental agony and  physical harassment to the complainant.
3. To pay Rs. 5000/- as litigation  cost.
4. Any other relief, which the Hon’ble Forum may deem fit.

                   In nutshell, brief facts of the present complaint are that the complainant purchased one product from the OP on 02.10.2018 by paying consideration amount of Rs.440/-. The MRP of the product was Rs.599/-, which was inclusive of all taxes. The OP, in order to promote the sale of the articles, offered 30% discount on MRP of the products. After 30% discount, the price of the above said product comes out to be Rs. 419/- but in addition to that the OP charged GST @5% of Rs. 20.96/-(State GST @2.5% of Rs.10.48/- and Central  GST @2.5%  of  Rs.10.48/-) and raised the bill of Rs. 440/-. After seeing the bill complainant raised the objection but the OP forced him to pay the bill amount of Rs. 440/-. The pleading of the complainant went unheard and was not left with any other option but to pay the said amount of Rs. 440/-, as OP said that once bill has been raised then he has to pay the net payable amount. By charging GST extra on the discounted price, the OP has committed deficiency in service and has caused mental agony and physical harassment to the complainant. Hence, the present complaint.

2.                Upon notice, OP appeared through counsel and filed written version, raising preliminary objections qua complaint is not maintainable. On merits, it is stated that requirement  of MRP(Maximum  Retail Price) on  the label of the Product i.e. readymade garments is under Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and legal Metrology (Packed commodities)Rules 2011, whereas  GST is charged on the selling  price  of the product. It is also stated that the amount charged on account of GST has already been deposited with the Government of Punjab and Union Government of India. When the products are sold on MRP to customers, GST amount is not separately charged from the customers. There is no deficiency in service on its part and complaint may be dismissed with cost.

3.                To prove his version complainant tendered his affidavit as Annexure C-A along with documents as Annexure C-1 to Annexure C-2 and closed his evidence. On the other hand, Counsel for OP tendered affidavit as Annexure OP/A and closed their evidence.

4.                We have heard learned counsel for the parties and carefully gone through the case file.

5.                 Annexure C-1, is the invoice dated 02.10.2018, whereby complainant purchased, one product from the OP. From the said invoice it is evident that the OP, after giving discount of Rs. 179.70/- and after having added Rs. 20.96/- as GST has raised the bill for an amount of Rs. 440/-. In the price tag, Annexure C-2, it is specifically mentioned that the maximum retail price(hereinafter referred to as MRP) of the product in question is of Rs. 599/-, inclusive of all taxes. As per Section 2(d) of the Consumer Goods (Mandatory Printing of Cost of Production and Maximum Retail Price) Act, 2014, the ‘Maximum Retail Price’ means ‘such price at which the consumer goods shall be sold in retail and such price shall include all taxes, levied on the goods’. No extra amount over and above the MRP, printed on the goods could be charged, even the same has been sold on discount, as the MRP has already been included, all the taxes levied on the goods. Since the OP has charged GST on the discounted price of the product, from the complainant, in violation of Section 2(d) of the Consumer Goods (Mandatory Printing of Cost of Production and Maximum Retail Price) Act, 2014, therefore, it has committed deficiency in service and is thus liable to refund the amount of Rs. 20.96/-(round off Rs. 21/-)charged on account of GST and is also liable to compensate the complainant for causing mental agony and physical harassment to him alongwith litigation expenses.

6.                In view of the above discussion, we allow the present complaint and direct the OP in the following manner:-

1. to refund Rs. 21/- charged on account of GST to the complainant.
2. To pay Rs. 5,000/-(Rupees Five thousand) as compensation.
3. To pay Rs. 3,000/- on account of litigations expenses.

The Op is further directed to comply with the aforesaid directions within the period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the certified copy of this order. Certified copies of this order be supplied to the parties concerned, forthwith, free of cost as permissible under Rules. File be indexed and consigned to the Record Room.

Announced on :22.03.2019

 

 

 

          (Vinod Kumar Sharma) (Ruby Sharma)     (Neena Sandhu)

              Member                        Member             President