Rs 10K compensation for hair in sugar packet

Chennai: It was sweet news for a customer when his complaint of human hair in a packet of su­gar sold by a Chennai-based retail outlet was accepted by the district consumer disputes redressal forum, Ch­ennai (south), and won him a compensation of Rs 10,000.

The petitioner had established negligence and deficiency in service by Spencer’s at Anna Salai, its retail outlet in Perambur, and Ven­ka­tesh Repackers in Seev­aram, Chennai, the forum observed.

The petitioner, P. Joth­eswaran alias Eas­waran of Perambur, bought 1 kg of sugar from the Spencer’s outlet at Pera­mbur high road on January 7, 2011.

Upon receipt of his petition, the consumer forum sent the sealed packet to the government analyst at King Institute, Guindy, whose report confirmed the presence of human hair in the packet.

The counsel for the complainant argued that if the hair had been consumed it would have be­en hazardous for health. He contended that Spe­ncer’s at Anna Salai, its outlet in Perambur and its re-packers had packed and sold the sugar carelessly and he was, therefore, entitled to a compensation of Rs 50,000.

Spencer’s stated in their reply that they were trustworthy reta­ilers and that the sugar had been packaged and sold to Spencer’s on Anna Salai and its ret­ail shop in Perambur by Venkatesh Rep­ackers in Seevaram.

Hence, they were not liable to pay any compensation to the complainant. They also argued that the analyst’s report was vague, had no details about the hazards of consuming human hair and that the petition had been filed with an ulterior motive.

Forum president R. Mohandoss and member A. Dayalan, obs­erved that since Spe­ncer’s were reputed reta­il chain marketers they should have been more vigilant in packing and selling their products.

“Even though they entered into a re-packing agreement with Venkatesh Repackers, they cannot wash their hands off the matter by stating that they had nothing to do with packing since the complainant purchased the product from its retail outlet in Perambur,” the bench added.

The forum, therefore, directed the retail chain and re-packers to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000, including a cost of Rs 5,000 to the customer.