THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Much has been written and debated about the exorbitant prices of snacks and aerated drinks at eateries in multiplexes and airports. Unfortunately, consumers are at the receiving end with none taking the responsibility to rein in them. Despite the social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp taking up the issue which has since gone viral, the government is also turning a blind eye towards the rights of the consumers. The government should bring in legislation to end unethical practices. Recently, actor Anusree Nair got a bill of Rs 680 for having two puffs, black tea and coffee. It startled her to take to the Facebook to share the bitter experience at Kitchen Restaurant inside the Trivandrum International Airport terminal on Sept 23. Though her post went viral, eateries at airports and multiplexes are still selling their stuff at their old inflated prices giving scant regard to the rights of consumers.
Following is the excerpts from a message which has been doing the rounds on WhatsApp for the last few days. “The actual cost of a pack of popcorn should not be more than Rs 5. They can charge either Rs 20 or Rs 30, but why more than 300 percent of the cost after considering various other expenses involved. When the matter was raised with the vendor, he maintained that as long as they have takers, their rates will remain the same,” says the message. As per the Essential Commodities Act that the state government passed, the price, quantity, weight and measurement details should be explicitly exhibited near the product. It stipulates that one cannot charge more than maximum retail price (MRP). However, there is no provision to control the price of commodities like puffs and cutlet. Generally speaking, exorbitant pricing is an unfair trade practice.
Abdulla Sona, former State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission acting president, told DC that a piece of legislation to fix the ceiling of prices is the only way to prevent fleecing by the eateries at airports and multiplexes. “Customers need to proactively approach consumer courts as they don’t have the powers to take suo motu cases. In 2013, Justice S. Siri Jagan had issued an order to the state government asking them to come up with legislation. Despite the former food and civil supplies minister Anoop Jacob going ahead with it, representatives of hotel and restaurants association played spoilsport,” he said. But a top official of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) told DC that the airport has more merits compared with the other airports like Trivandrum.
There are eateries inside and outside the Nedumbassery airport where the CIAL management decides the tariffs of items sold outside the terminal but which is in fact inside the premises. “If tea costs Rs 10 and coffee Rs 12, snacks like pazhampori and nine other items have standard rates the CIAL management itself fixes. They have competitive prices. But when it comes to various eateries functioning inside the Nedumbassery airport, there is a mechanism of revenue sharing policy which means that their earnings are shared with the CIAL,” said a top CIAL official.
But the main reason why airports charge exorbitant rates is, he said, because there are different parameters to be met like security clearance, X-ray machine scanning, airport entry pass and above all four employees in each eatery working on shift have to pass the aviation security exam every few months. At the same time, the Nedumbassery airport also has got an affordable canteen offering vegetarian meals at Rs 27 which is a huge hit. “At a time, there are 160 – 170 people having lunch with most of them coming from nearby Angamaly and Athani areas. Since it is working 24 hours 365 days a year, on an average, more than 7,000 people utilise the canteen which caters quality food at affordable rates,” the CIAL official said. But this is going to be a distant dream at other airports and multiplexes. The long wait by the people at the mercy of the government will have to continue until they come up with legislation against the fleecing.
