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Coca Cola must keep quality in India- fined Rs 15,000

 

Coke fined for tobacco pouch in bottle
Patiala, January 28, 2008
Kanwar Manjit Singh
Editor- Punjab Today

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Fatehgarh Sahib, camp at Patiala presided by Gurdev Singh, has directed Coca Cola to pay Rs 15,000 after a consumer found a tobacco pouch in an unopened bottle of Coca Cola advertised as the company's top product in the soft drinks market.

"The sale of contaminated Coca Cola which is dangerous to human consumption is a matter of deficiency of service.," District Consumer Redressal Forum said.

The complainant, Kanwar Manjit Singh, Editor of Punjab Today, a global magazine published from Patiala, had registered the case through his lawyer A. S. Waraich on June 8, 2006, against Coca Cola India and M/s Gian Singh & Sons, the grocery shop from which the complainant had purchased the contaminated drink.

In its detailed order the Consumer Forum mentioned that "The bare perusal of the contents of the bottle reveals that the said bottle contains a pouch of tobacco. Thus the contents of the said Coca Cola bottle is dangerous to the human consumption and the opposite party is expected to sell good quality of Coca Cola which is not dangerous to human life."

"For the foregoing reasons and discussion above we accept the complainant and direct the opposite party to make the payment of Rs 15,000/- with interest at the rate of 9 per cent from the date of filing the complaint till its realization for harassment, mental agony and cost of the petition to the complainant" directed the Forum.

The complainant had purchased six bottles of Coca Cola from the retail outlet on May 4, 2004. On reaching home he was shocked to see a pouch of tobacco in one of the bottles. He immediately brought the matter to the notice of the owner of grocery shop who passed the buck on to the local distributor of Coca Cola from whom he gets the supply. When the local distributor could not satisfy the complainant, he lodged his protest regarding contaminated drinks to the President of Coca Cola India and Coca Cola Headquarters at Atlanta through telephone calls, e-mails and registered letters.

When the matter could not be resolved despite a long correspondence with Coca Cola authorities he lodged a complaint with consumer court where the case (Complaint no. 204/ dt. 08/08/08) was decided in his favour on December 14, 2007 and copy of the order was issued on January 21, 2008 .

 

 

 

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Coke fined for tobacco pouch in bottle