Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Legal Metrology Department on Tuesday said companies advertising price of their pre-packaged commodities must also mention their quantity and non-compliance is a violation, citing the case of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
Selectively mentioning the price of the pre-packaged commodity and refraining from revealing its net quantity violates Section 18 (2) of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, an official said.
"Any advertisement mentioning the retail sale price of a pre-packaged commodity shall contain a declaration as to the net quantity or number of the commodity contained in the package in such form and manner as may be prescribed," said Andhra Pradesh Legal Metrology controller H Arun Kumar in a press release.
Kumar, who is also the civil supplies commissioner, noted the inspector of Legal Metrology, Visakhapatnam City has registered a case under Section 18 (2) of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 against Hindustan Unilever Ltd on October 4, 2023.
He said the inspector registered the case for not declaring the quantity of an advertisement on YouTube in connection with Bru instant coffee.
Incidentally, the global FMCG giant appealed to the controller, claiming the advertisement was telecast on a private YouTube channel and argued it was not the authorised channel of the Hindustan Unilever Ltd, prompting the controller to initiate a probe.
In this backdrop, Kumar highlighted that every advertisement of packaged commodities indicating their sale price must also inform their corresponding weight.
"Such cases where MRP (maximum retail price) is only indicated without (the) corresponding net quantity is a violation of Legal Metrology provisions and consumers may take note of it and such violations may be brought to the notice of the controller," Kumar added.
