With no way to weigh goods, buyers tricked at grain market

CHANDIGARH: Beware of getting fleeced by the sellers in Sector 26 grain market as they might charge you more in the absence of any means to weigh the purchased items. Electronic weigh scale provided by UT administration two years ago to facilitate buyers is nowhere to be seen in the market place.
After probing into the matter, TOI learnt that the weighing scale is defunct and has to repaired.

Nazuk Kumar, SDM-cumadministrator of grain market committee said, “I am not aware of any such concept. If it was a practice earlier and now has been discontinued, I will get it checked so that it is started again. Directions will also be issued to UT weights and measure department to carry out an exercise to check the calibrations of weighing scales and weights being used to sell products in the grain market.”

TOI, as part of a reality check, purchased 1kg tomatoes from the market and later when weighed the product outside, it was found to be 150 grams lesser in weight. On following up with various customers who purchased from the market, they complained that the shopkeepers used to cheat them by making sure that the goods sold weighed less at time of transaction.


Ramesh and Kanta Kapur while talking to TOI said, “We have been regularly purchasing vegetables from this market and the sellers are in the habit of cheating us. Earlier, market committee had set up an electronic weighed scale to cross-check the weight, but it is nowhere to be seen since the past couple of years.”

Modus operandi


The vegetable sellers who cheat their customers on a regular basis actually tamper with the weighing scale as well as the weights. None of them get their weighing scales calibrated at regular intervals and neither they get the weights stamped from the weights and measure department annually.

The weighing scales are tampered mechanically to ensure that the weight of goods are increased from their actual weight when put on the scales. If the scales are electronic, then the vendors get the settings changed from experts which show one kilo against 850 or 900 grams of product.

Secondly, the mechanical weights are drilled from backside to remove around 100g to 150g of extra metal so that goods weighed with 1kg weight on the scale will automatically get cut down by 150g.