Can shopping malls charge for carry bags

It is quite common in the country to charge for everything if the consumers are not aware of the law. Charging for carry bags is one among such. Many shopping malls and retail stores in all metro cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad are charging extra money for carry bags ranging from ₹5 to ₹20.

But the question is can the shopping malls charge extra money for the carry bags.

Experts say that consumers can slap the stores that charge extra money for carry bags with a penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹15,000.

Manjit Kumar Das, advocate, Guwahati High Court and Consumer Court, stated that it was made illegal for shopping malls to charge additional money for carry bags including plastic bags, paper bags or any other kind of bags. This rule is applicable from March 2018.

Consumers can file an application against such shopping mall or retail store before the Consumer Redressal Forum. The shops will be issued notices based on that application by the Forum.

Consumers can also file cases in the District Consumer Court by submitting the application along with the bill of their purchase.

They can even ask for compensation for the mental torture which was borne due to the shopkeepers.

The complaints can also be filed online.

Earlier in the month of January this year, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Chandigarh imposed a penalty of ₹13,000 on Bata showroom for charging ₹5 from a consumer to provide a carry bag.

The consumer welfare association said the order of Chandigarh consumer commission would be applied throughout the nation.

Even a similar order has been passed by the Madurai district consumer forum recently. The consumer protection council in Tamil Nadu said that consumers can contact them at 93451-01216 if they need support to approach consumer court.

Image by Annalise Batista from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)

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