Cracking down on violations of the Tamil Nadu Legal Metrology (Enforcement) Rules, 2011, the State government has initiated legal action against as many as 114 eatery owners in cinema halls across the State.
During inspections carried out at 335 cinema halls across the State, a total of 72 cases of violation of pricing norms were found, including the sale of water bottles, soft drinks and food packets at rates in excess of the maximum retail price (MRP).
The inspectors also came across cases where statutory information like the name and full address of the manufacturer, MRP (inclusive of taxes), date of packaging and the ‘best before’ date was not declared.
Thirty-eight cases were registered in this connection, according to an official release.
Four cases were registered in connection with contravention of rules concerning weights and measurements.
“A total of 114 cases were booked against theatre canteen owners, and the necessary penal action is being initiated,” the release added.
The sale of packaged commodities at rates in excess of the maximum retail price attracts penal action and, of late, there have been several complaints from the public with regard to overcharging by eateries at cinema halls across the State.
On the instructions of Commissioner of Labour R. Nantha Gopal, the Special Task Force teams, led by Assistant Commissioners of Labour (Enforcement), were constituted in every district, and surprise raids were conducted on cinema halls across the State on Thursday and Friday.
Mobile app
The Labour Department has come up with a mobile app for the Tamil Nadu Legal Metrology Complaint Tracking System (TN-LMCTS).
Consumers can download the TN-LMCTS app from the Google Play Store on the Android platform and lodge complaints over excessive pricing, non-declaration of statutory information, short weighment and other violations of norms.
