LMD squads at venue to prevent fleecing

KOCHI: To prevent a repeat of last year’s incident when food and beverages providers fleeced fans during a football event, the Legal Metrology Department (LMD) will deploy two squads inside the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor, the venue of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup (WC) which gets under way from Saturday. As many as seven LMD officers will be stationed at different corners of the stadium to prevent overcharging of edible products by providers.

“We are deploying our squads inside the stadium following the directive of the FIFA nodal officer,” said LMD Deputy Controller R Ram Mohan.  LMD will also inspect shops located outside the stadium which are frequented by fans arriving in Kochi to watch the matches. “We conduct regular checking at the shops. However, the checking will be intensified as a large number of people will be arriving here during the WC,” Mohan said.

During the sports event last year, LMD had found food and beverage counters inside the stadium were charging exorbitant rates on edible products. A case was registered against the organisers. This time, no food and beverage stall will be set up inside the stadium .Mohan said spectators can contact phone numbers  8281698070 and 8281698059 to lodge  complaints if they find any trader overcharging them for any product.

The officers believe charging different prices for food and beverage is not likely to happen during WC matches as the arrangements are directly supervised by FIFA. Food and beverages will be provided at the respective seats after order is taken by volunteers. Food and beverages from outside have been prohibited during the games.