Not Gold Biscuit! But 1 Missing Sunfeast Marie Light Biscuit From Pack To Cost ITC Rs 1 Lakh; Here's How

When you read or hear Rs 1 lakh compensation for a single piece of biscuit, the first thought that would come to your mind would be GOLD Biscuit! But no that is not the case in regards to FMCG giant ITC Ltd. The company's foods division is directed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation after a consumer complained that one biscuit from the popular Sunfeast Marie Light was missing from the pack compared to a number of biscuits mentioned on the wrapper.

In the latest order, Tamil Nadu's District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum told ITC to pay a sum of Rs 1 lakh to the consumer who alleged unfair trade practice over the missing biscuit from the pack. Also, PTI reported that the court further asked ITC to discontinue the selling of the disputed biscuits 'Sunfeast Marie Light' in Batch No.0502C36 with the specific endorsement.

A citizen and customer P Dillibabu residing in Chennai complained that there were only 15 biscuits inside the packets of Sunfeast Marie Light compared to the advertised 16 biscuits. He alleged that ITC committed unfair trade practices.

However, ITC did argue that the product sold was only based on the weight and not on the number of biscuits. However, the TN court has dismissed the company's submission.

PTI further reported that the court stated such arguments could not be accepted as the wrapper clearly provides the information to the buyers/consumers to purchase the product only based on the number of biscuits. The potential consumer would only see the wrapper to decide the purchase of the product as the product information available on the packing influences the consumer's buying behavior and the product information available on the wrapper or label plays a significant role in customer satisfaction.

Hence, the TN court ruled that ITC committed unfair trade practices and deficiency in service in misleading the consumers. It also ruled that the complainant has successfully proved the same by sufficient admissible evidence.

However, Dillibabu also sought a penalty of Rs 100 crore on the company and the store which sold the biscuit. Further, the complainant also demanded Rs 10 crore compensation for the alleged act. Nevertheless, the court dismissed these reliefs sought by Dillibabu by calling them "exorbitant" in nature.

But apart from Rs 1 lakh compensation, the court also directed ITC to pay Rs 0,000 towards litigation expenses to Dillibabu.

In the June 2023 quarter, ITC said that 'Sunfeast' Biscuits and Cakes recorded strong growth during the quarter, driven by the robust
performance of the core portfolio and scaling up of several differentiated variants launched recently. The portfolio was further enriched with a slew of exciting launches viz., 'Sunfeast All Rounder Sweet & Salty', 'Sunfeast Supermilk' and 'Sunfeast Farmlite Super Millets' in two variants - 'Chocochip Millet' and 'Multi Millet' cookies.

ITC's FMCG business including Staples, Biscuits, Noodles, Beverages, Dairy, Agarbatti and premium Soaps, registered robust performance with segment revenue growing 16.1% YoY to Rs 5,166 crore in Q1FY24. Also, the segment's EBITDA stood at Rs 570 crore with margins of 11%.

ITC's business comprises FMCG, cigarettes, hotels, agri, and paperboards, paper & packaging.

On BSE, at the time of writing, ITC shares traded at Rs 445.65 apiece marginally down from the previous closing of Rs 447.50 apiece. The company's market is over Rs 5.55 lakh crore as of now.