Bengaluru man wins Rs 10,000 compensation from supermarket over expired oats

A 49-year-old man from Bengaluru won a refund and compensation of Rs 10,000 from a supermarket after he suffered food poisoning from eating oats bought from the store. After he fell ill, the man discovered that the supermarket was selling oats past their expiry date by sticking labels with fresh dates on the packets. He then approached the consumer court which recently rules in his favour.

As per a report in the Times of India, the incident had happened on September 2021 when Parappa visited the Namdhari supermarket in Jayanagar, and bought items including a packet of oats priced at Rs 925. He ate it, fell ill, and had to consult a doctor. Parappa then checked the manufacturing and expiry dates on the packet to realise that its original label which showed it had expired was covered up with a fresh label with new dates to show that the oats were safe to consume.

Parappa contacted the store staff but did not receive a positive response. He then sent a legal notice to the supermarket alleging service deficiency and unfair trade practices and approached the Bengaluru consumer disputes redressal commission, the Times of India reported.

The court noted that Parappa had produced evidence related to the packet being relabelled with wrong manufacturing and expiry dates over the older ones and ruled that the company must pay the customer a refund of Rs 925, Rs 5,000 as compensation for causing him illness and agony, and an additional Rs 5,000 should be paid for his court expenses.