Consumer forum turns the heat on soft drink firm

The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, while accepting a complaint lodged by N.K. Singla of Kitchlu Nagar here has directed the Ludhiana Beverages Pvt Ltd and Ludhiana Bottling Company...

The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, while accepting a complaint lodged by N.K. Singla of Kitchlu Nagar here has directed the Ludhiana Beverages Pvt Ltd and Ludhiana Bottling Company, Focal Point, to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 to the complainant for mental agony and harassment on account of deficiency in services of the company and also pay Rs 2,000 for litigation expenses.

After hearing the arguments of both side, Forum President and its members, D.S.Bakshi and Puja Diwan, held that N.K. Singla had successfully proved his case. The forum held that the company was certainly guilty of misconduct by resorting to unfair trade practice by selling beverage of soft drink, which was unfit for human consumption, as it was past its expiry date.

A crate of bottles was sold after six months of manufacturing and contents were to be used best within six months of the manufacturing. The forum also held that after six months of the manufacturing, that crate of bottles was sold by a big company for the sake of a few rupees risking the health of general public.

Singla, through the complaint, had submitted that he purchased a crate of Maaza soft drink from the Ludhiana Bottling Company, Focal Point, Ludhiana, selling agent of manufacturer Ludhiana Beverages Pvt Ltd, franchise of Coca Cola company vide bill dated March 10, 2007. The crate was purchased from a delivery van of the company. He alleged that when he was on the verge of opening one Maaza bottle, he found some foreign element therein. On close scrutiny, the foreign element appeared to be an insect. Concentrated portion of the drink had settled down while the water portion was on the top. A legal notice also sent to both the parties, which was received by them but they had failed to reply

During the arguments, the lawyer of company stated that the complaint was false and frivolous.They alleged that bottles were bottled by franchise of Coca Cola company with most sophisticated automatic plant ensuring high standard of hygiene and cleanliness with strict quality checks.