A man in Bengaluru is making the buzz for seeking a Rs. 50 lakhs compensation for worm found in his chocolate bar which was worth Rs. 89. After hearing the man’s plea, the court stated that it was beyond its reach, and refereed him state consumer court. The man, seeking a hefty Rs 50 lakhs compensation for the city consumer court, was identified as Mukesh Kumar Kedia. The incident is that of 2016, when Mr. Kedia had bought a Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit & Nuts chocolate bars.
The same year, he gave the chocolates to his niece. Through his niece, he found out that the chocolate bars were infested with worm. With his new information, the man decided to file complaint against Cadbury. He called the company’s helpline, where he was asked to handover the worm-infested chocolate to the company.
In the trial that followed, lawyer of Mondelez (company that manufactured chocolate for Dairy Milk) argued that Kedia is looking to make gains by asking high compensation amount for a chocolate bar of Rs. 89.
Now the court has directed Kedia to take the case to the state consumer court, and ruled that the city consumer court has no “pecuniary jurisdiction” to hear a complaint from 2016.
The Facts of Matter
For the safeguard of the consumers’ rights, India has put up the Consumer Protection Act. The act curbs any major defects in goods and services and deficiencies in them. Under the Consumer Protection Act, a customer, if he/she is wronged by a product or service, they can take to the authorities and file a compensation claim. Recently a man in Bengaluru has soughed Rs. 50 lakhs in compensation for worm found in chocolate bar.
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Case Dates Back to 2016
The man in question has been identified as Mukesh Kumar Kedia, who bought two Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate bars, for Rs. 89, each. In October 2016. Kedia gave the chocolate bar to his niece, through whom, he learnt that the bars were infested with worm.
Kedia reached out to the Cadbury customer helpline and filed a complaint regarding the matter. He was asked to hand over the worm-infested bar to the company, and sent a photograph of the chocolate bar, instead of sending it over.
Bengaluru Man Takes to District Consumer Court
When Kedia didn’t receive the appropriate response to his complaint, he finally took to the district consumer court. At the Bengaluru Urban district consumer court, he filed a service deficiency complaint against Mondelez India Foods Private Limited, a company that manufactures Cadbury chocolates. He also filed the complaint against the grocery store from where he bought the chocolate bar.
In the court proceedings that commenced, the attorney representing Mondelez, claimed that Kedia was looking to make gains by seeking such a huge amount for a bar of chocolate worth Rs. 89.
Court hears Plea from Both Sides
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the district consumer court judges agreed that the chocolate indeed had worms, which was proven by the photographs. However, the compensation sought by the man (Rs. 20 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs), was beyond the consumer forum of city’s jurisdiction.
Final Verdict
The court stated that since the court was filed in 2016, it falls under the scope of the 1986 Consumer Protection Act. Under the Consumer Protection Act 1986, pleas of only up to Rs. 5 lakhs were entertained by the district consumer forums.
It is only after the Consumer Protection Act 2019, that consumer forums were allowed to take up pleas for up to Rs. 1 crore. As such, the judges ruled that the case must be presented to the Bengaluru’s state consumer forum.
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