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A consumer court in Gujarat has ordered a multi-brand clothing retailer to pay Rs 1,500 as compensation to a customer for charging him Rs 10 for a carry bag.

President J J Pandya of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Ahmedabad rural) also asked the retailer to return Rs 10 charged on the carry bag to the complainant Maulin Fadia with 8% interest.

In its order passed on June 29, which was made available on Monday, the Commission partially allowed the consumer’s plea and ordered the retailer to pay Rs 1,000 for mental harassment and Rs 500 towards the legal cost.

The retailer should pay back the amount charged on the said paper bag, with 8% interest from the date of the complaint, all within 30 days of the passing of the order, it stated.

According to the complainant, he had purchased items worth Rs 2,486 from a store of a national retail brand and was surprised to find that he was charged Rs 10 for the bag, on which information about different branches of the brand was printed.

The complainant felt that he was wrongly charged for the paper bag and hence approached the consumer forum seeking its direction to the retailer to pay him Rs 25,000 for mental harassment and another Rs 25,000 to be deposited to the consumer welfare fund.

The retailer argued that consumers are not forced to buy carry bags, which do not come for free, and a notice has been placed at cash counters making this clear.

To this, the complainant’s lawyer said the notice was not there when the purchase was made and might have been placed later.