Gujarat Cracks Down on Weight and MRP Fraud: 860 Businesses Penalised, ₹20.23 Lakh Collected
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Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
The Gujarat Legal Metrology and Consumer Affairs Department has penalised 860 commercial establishments and collected ₹20.23 lakh in compounding fees during a special statewide inspection drive conducted ahead of Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali.
Officials inspected 1,597 establishments across the state in two phases — October 11 to 20 and 28, 29 — targeting commercial hubs, including sweet shops, farsan and snack vendors, dry fruit dealers, wholesale traders, supermarkets and shopping malls.
The inspections uncovered several violations of consumer protection regulations, including short-weighting, charging prices above the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) and using weighing instruments that had not been verified or stamped.
Unverified Weighing Scales Account for Largest Share of Penalties
The largest category of violations involved weighing scales that had not undergone mandatory verification or stamping. A total of 515 establishments were penalised, with ₹6,61,300 collected in compounding fees.
Non-compliance with packer registration requirements under the Packaged Commodities Rules (PCR) was detected in 69 cases, attracting penalties of ₹5,08,000.
Officials also collected ₹3,13,000 from 95 cases involving discrepancies in the declared net weight of packaged products.
MRP Violations and Other Irregularities Detected
A further ₹1,95,000 was collected in 36 cases involving tampering with price labels or charging consumers above the MRP.
Another ₹3,46,500 was recovered from 145 cases involving other procedural violations.
According to the department, the total compounding fees collected stood at ₹20,23,800 across 860 establishments found violating the prescribed rules.
Consumers Urged to Report Short-Weighting and Overcharging
The department has urged consumers to remain alert while purchasing goods and report instances of short-weighting or overcharging.
Consumers can register complaints through the Gujarat State toll-free helpline 1800-233-0222 or the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) at 1915.
