Despite the Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan announcing that bottled water will be sold at the same maximum retail price (MRP) across all platforms, activists say that almost all the malls in Hyderabad has been practicing dual MRP.
Vijay had earlier filed a complaint against INOX multiplex for overcharging for water bottle.
Recently, the Hyderabad Consumer Forum has asked INOX multiplex to pay up Rs 5,000, along with another Rs 1,000 to an activist, and reportedly said that there cannot be two MRPs for the same water bottle.
Shortage of staff in state consumer forum The president of the Telangana State Consumer Organisation has said that the main reason these issues still persist is because of shortage of staff in the Telangana State Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and Legal Metrology department.
He says that after the bifurcation, the state government has not yet appointed district consumer forum presidents and members in the state.
“Out of the 12 consumer forums, there are only two presidents (judge).
For the past two years the Civil Supplies department has been saying that they will fill up the vacancy, but nothing has been done," he added.
I filed the case on Inox almost a nine months back,” Vijay says.
According to the Telangana State Consumer Organisation, which fights for the rights of consumers, over 4700 cases are still pending for judgement, out of which 60% of the cases have been pending for more than four years.
However, several cases have been pending for years.