Fudging of weights rampant all over cityFudging of weights rampant all over city
You can be foxed while buying cement bags also
By Yogesh Avasthi and Dhwani Pathak
Posted On Thursday, May 21, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20090521200905210354573275fdbe33)
Not just fruit or vegetable owners, even sweet shops often fool customers by fudging weights. The startling revelations came to the fore when AM conducted a test drive on Wednesday, in association with the Weights & Measurements Department (Legal Metrology Department). A case of a cement manufacturer duping customers also came to the fore.
Sweet packets
One of the AM correspondents went to a shop and asked for a kilo of sweets. An employee of the shop kept a box on the weighing machine and then filled it with sweets. When the machine’s pointer pointed to the 1 kg mark, he packed the box and gave it to our correspondent.
When the AM reporter approached a legal metrology department inspector sniffing foul play, he went to the shop at Maninagar’s Sindhi market, from where the sweets were bought. When he verified the weight of the box in which the sweets (peda) were packed, we were shocked to find it to be weighing 30 gm.
The inspector said: “Consumers have the right to get the box weighed empty. By doing so, they can avoid being cheated. If a person wants to buy a kg of sweets and the box weighs 30 grams, the net weight of the packet of sweets should be 1.03 kg.” He adds, “Often the consumers don’t ask questions about the machine being used, but they should be doing that often. “In mechanical balance, consumers should check the centre of gravity.
The distance between the pointer and the pan in which the vegetable/fruits are weighed, is increased by tricksters. Sometimes, the thickness of weights is tampered with,” he said. The official added, “Usually regular customers of a shop are not cheated. Generally strangers and people who bargain a lot are duped.”
Men, says the official, become victims of cheating less than women because the latter bargain a lot.
Cracks in Cement !
You can be short-changed while buying cement also, mates. Officials of legal metrology department apprised us of a case in which a cement company had been cheating customers by 5 kg in each bag. The incident came to the fore on Tuesday night.
After the legal metrology department received a complaint from one of the duped customers, they imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on the erring cement company. They also compelled the firm to give the complainant 5 kg of cement, which he had been denied of dubiously.
Chips, tooOfficials of legal metrology department advised customers to be careful while purchasing lose chips packets. Often they do not have the tag mentioning the weight of the packet. Consumers believe they are buying a 100gm packet, while its weight is just 70gm in reality. Two shopkeepers were asked to pay fine in Maninagar market after they were caught selling chips packets without mentioning their net weight on packets.
By Yogesh Avasthi and Dhwani Pathak
Posted On Thursday, May 21, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20090521200905210354573275fdbe33)
Not just fruit or vegetable owners, even sweet shops often fool customers by fudging weights. The startling revelations came to the fore when AM conducted a test drive on Wednesday, in association with the Weights & Measurements Department (Legal Metrology Department). A case of a cement manufacturer duping customers also came to the fore.
Sweet packets
One of the AM correspondents went to a shop and asked for a kilo of sweets. An employee of the shop kept a box on the weighing machine and then filled it with sweets. When the machine’s pointer pointed to the 1 kg mark, he packed the box and gave it to our correspondent.
When the AM reporter approached a legal metrology department inspector sniffing foul play, he went to the shop at Maninagar’s Sindhi market, from where the sweets were bought. When he verified the weight of the box in which the sweets (peda) were packed, we were shocked to find it to be weighing 30 gm.
The inspector said: “Consumers have the right to get the box weighed empty. By doing so, they can avoid being cheated. If a person wants to buy a kg of sweets and the box weighs 30 grams, the net weight of the packet of sweets should be 1.03 kg.” He adds, “Often the consumers don’t ask questions about the machine being used, but they should be doing that often. “In mechanical balance, consumers should check the centre of gravity.
The distance between the pointer and the pan in which the vegetable/fruits are weighed, is increased by tricksters. Sometimes, the thickness of weights is tampered with,” he said. The official added, “Usually regular customers of a shop are not cheated. Generally strangers and people who bargain a lot are duped.”
Men, says the official, become victims of cheating less than women because the latter bargain a lot.
Cracks in Cement !
You can be short-changed while buying cement also, mates. Officials of legal metrology department apprised us of a case in which a cement company had been cheating customers by 5 kg in each bag. The incident came to the fore on Tuesday night.
After the legal metrology department received a complaint from one of the duped customers, they imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on the erring cement company. They also compelled the firm to give the complainant 5 kg of cement, which he had been denied of dubiously.
Chips, tooOfficials of legal metrology department advised customers to be careful while purchasing lose chips packets. Often they do not have the tag mentioning the weight of the packet. Consumers believe they are buying a 100gm packet, while its weight is just 70gm in reality. Two shopkeepers were asked to pay fine in Maninagar market after they were caught selling chips packets without mentioning their net weight on packets.
