Consumers have turned to consumer courts to resolve their complaints. A case before the consumer forum in which the leading shoe brand “Bata” had charged a sum of Rs 3/- as a transport bag fee. The court found that the Bata company ad was displayed on the bag, where it was printed in “Bata Surprisingly Elegant” red. This shows that the consumer has been used as an advertising intermediary and is charged for it. It was noted that “based on the evidence on file, we firmly establish that there is an unfair commercial practice on the part of the counterparty to force the complainant to purchase the carrying bag worth Rs 3, and if the counterparty is an environmental activist, he should have handed it over to the complainant free of charge. It was to win OP. By applying unfair business practices, OP makes a lot of money with all customers. The above-mentioned rules were amended by a Communication dated 18.3.2018 and Rule 15 of the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Regulation 2016 was omitted by a subsequent Communication dated 27.3.2018, so that the OP cannot make use of this Rule in the current legal situation. This should encourage retailers to switch to new standards for plastic, discourage consumers from using plastic bags, encourage them to bring their own bags and also fund the disposal of plastic waste by civil bodies. However, the dealer is free to charge a fee for single carrying bags. The complainants claimed that the PO was not entitled to legal fees for the carrying bag, paper bag and jute bag.
Alleging a failure to perform, the plaintiffs sought reimbursement of the amount invoiced by the OP, as well as compensation and court costs. Ironically, the root of this practice lies in the 2011 Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to create a regulatory framework for plastic waste management in the country. While merchants were required to provide only plastic bags that met prescribed standards, the rules stated: “No carrier bag may be provided free of charge to consumers by retailers.” As customers, we need to know whether to pay for these plastic or paper bags? Sometimes store owners or managers resort to the unfair tactic of confusing customers. They validate their fee policy for carrier bags by distinguishing between paper or jute and polyethylene carrier bags and also erroneously referring to the size of the carrier bags. Can retailers charge you for these bags even if they are environmentally friendly? So it made some changes to the rules to make this easier – it asked retailers who use plastic bags to pay a certain amount as a fee for disposing of plastic waste at the time of registration, and also posted notices in conspicuous places in retail stores stating that (plastic) bags would only be provided for a fee. And the local authority, according to the rules, should use the amount customers pay for the carrying bag exclusively for the sustainability of the waste management system. Purnasha Gupta, a customer, said: “I am aware that these carrying bags should not be charged, but as customers, when we raise objections, they do not listen to us.” She said these carrying bags usually cost from five to ten rupees. “Using customers as advertising agents”: Charging money for carrier bags with a printed logo is a false, unfair business practice of a fraudulent nature| Repayment of Rs 3 with interest and compensation ordered by the Consumer Forum Ms. Vaishali Panchal, Secretary General of CRO, believes that few customers are aware of this act.
She asked, “If brands have their logos on tote bags, are they investing in building their own brand and why should customers pay for it?” Consumers are an integral part of a market economy and, therefore, they deserve to be treated honestly and sincerely by sellers. It is essential to raise consumer awareness. Recently, customers have been charged for carrying bags. These fees range from Rs 5 to Rs 10 and in some cases even more. Many consumers who don`t understand the legal rationality and logic behind it end up paying money for carrier bags. In this context, it is important to discuss this topic in order to increase consumer awareness. After 2011, when the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) published the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, which state that “no (plastic) bags can be provided free of charge to consumers by retailers.” The real intention behind this decision was to discourage consumers from using plastic bags, as plastics are not biodegradable and therefore pose a threat to the environment. Let us examine the legal situation on this contentious issue so that we, as conscious consumers, are able to grasp its intricacies in detail.
The Chandigarh Consumer Commission recently ordered Bata India Ltd to pay a fine of Rs 9,000 for charging a customer Rs 3 for a paper bag intended to carry a shoebox. Legal experts believe that the order is valid throughout the country and that stores cannot charge consumers an additional fee for the bag if the product is purchased in the same store. The Consumer Commission added that if companies provide eco-friendly bags to protect the environment, they should provide customers with free eco-friendly bags. Navin Agarwal, President and President of the Consumer Rights Organisation (CRO), said: “Brands that incriminate customers are violating the court order. If possible, the customer should object to it in the store itself, and if he still does not agree, he should contact the local authority and send a letter to the store in question. He said: “@******* You get customers to buy carrying bags with your brand. According to the consumer court, you cannot charge a fee for your branding on the basket. Remove the mark or release.
I`m sure the issue will be dragged to the Apex court, but consumer resistance to paying for the carrier bag is already building up and could soon become a force to be reckoned with. A consumer forum in Hyderabad fined a supermarket 15,000 rupees for selling bags bearing their logo. “In a way, retailers/merchants are abusing government rules and illegally charging customers for plastic bags.” The complainant alleged that OP engaged in unfair commercial practices by charging for the plastic bag in question and also using the customer as promotional material, since the transport bags sold by OP bore its commercial logo and the customer who purchased them had in fact made the PO`s brand known. Over the past six months, the humble carrying bag has been at the center of an intense legal battle between consumers and retailers over the fundamental question of whether retailers can charge for carrier bags, which are essentially promotional support for the brand. The 2011 Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules were adopted with the aim of discouraging consumers from using plastic bags because they are not biodegradable and pose a risk to the environment, according to the Commission, and Rule 15 of these rules states, inter alia, that: No carrying bag may be manufactured. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mohali, fined Reliance Retail Limited (counterparty), Bribery Mall, Mohali, for charging 15 customers` bags. However, Ratan said no brand requires a customer to buy their tote bag. According to him, consumers need to be more aware that if they want to avoid additional charges, they simply have to carry their own carrying bags. If they are charged on pockets, they are legally able to turn to the consumer forum.
M. Gopal Ratan, secretary of the Consumer Care Society of Bangalore, said: “Since the government decree banning carrier bags, many brands have started using alternative materials instead of plastic. So they started charging for carrying bags. According to the 2018 Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules of 27-3-2018, the current legal position regarding Rule 15 is that the “explicit pricing of carrier bags” was omitted and therefore this forum upheld the complaint and gave the PO the following instructions: Obviously, it didn`t work either, because when the government announced some changes to the 2016 rules in March 2018, the rule that consumers must pay for the carrying bag was abolished. As a result, retailers who switched to non-plastic checkout bags had no legal basis to ask consumers to pay. And even those who sold plastic bags could not do so unless mandated by a notice from the municipal authority.
