Consumer Commission Penalises Zepto Over Alleged MRP Overcharging and Misleading Discounts
What Happened
A Telangana consumer commission held Zepto guilty of unfair trade practices after finding that a customer was charged above the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for grocery products and was offered discounts on inflated prices. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ranga Reddy, ordered the company to pay ₹2,000 as compensation, ₹5,000 towards litigation costs, and deposit ₹50,000 in the commission's consumer legal aid account, taking the total liability to ₹57,000. The case stemmed from a September 2023 grocery order placed by Hyderabad-based advocate K Shiva Ganesh
Key Takeaways
The ruling reinforces that online platforms can be held liable for charging above MRP and for displaying discounts on inflated prices. The commission treated the conduct as an unfair trade practice, highlighting consumer protection concerns in digital commerce.