Guntur, October 26: The Consumer Forum of Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, fined Mondelez India Foods Private Ltd, the parent company of Cadbury India, for supplying bacteria-contaminated chocolates to a consumer. The company was ordered not only pay a penalty of Rs 50,000 for causing mental agony, but also to pay Rs 5,000 to the complainant.
On July 17, 2016, Darla Anupama, a resident of Brodipet, purchased two Cadbury Dairy Milk (roast almond) chocolates from a local shop. But the family members tasted the chocolate, they found it bitter and spat it out. On opening the second wafer, Anupama shocked to find mould, which was unpalatable. She lodged a complaint to Mondelez through a mail and attached the relevant photographs, the Times of India reported.
A company representative immediately contacted her and requested her not to blow up the issue. He also took the samples of the chocolates.
Not paying any heed to the request, Anupama lodged a complaint with the Consumer Forum on August 6, 2016 as she felt betrayed and sought a relief of Rs 5 lakh for the mental agony caused to her. The forum summoned both the manufacturer and retailer in the case. Defending himself, the retailer said he had no role in the product’s quality as he had sold a sealed product and the forum concurred with his version.
Advocate for the manufacturer, on the other hand, argued that the complaint is not maintainable as the complainant did not deposit samples of the spoilt chocolates. But the company did not deny the fact that the complainant had raised the issue on its website and its representative also visited her house and took away the samples.
Moreover, the representative of the company who took the samples did not attend the forum sittings on multiple occasions.
After looking into all the aspects, the forum held Mondelez responsible for deficiency in service and directed it to pay Rs 50,000. It also ordered the firm to pay Rs 5,000 towards costs of the complainant and Rs 90 for the cost of two chocolates.
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