Slice of justice: Man’s legal battle over 24 paise ends with 1k fine

Ahmedabad: What started as a fight for 24 paise spiralled into a hefty Rs 1,000 fine! A man took a local pizza chain to court, alleging he had been overcharged by just a fraction of a rupee under the pretext of rounding off the bill. However, the consumer commission did not share his sense of outrage. Calling the case a "mockery of justice" and a waste of its time, the commission slapped him with a penalty.Patel's fight for pocket change ended up costing him dearly.
Prashant Patel from Detroj-Rampura village took legal action after visiting a pizzeria on Jan 10 this year. The eatery presented him with a bill of Rs 665 for pizza and soft drinks, but Patel argued that the actual amount should have been Rs 664.76 after applying a discount and GST. Patel objected to the extra 24 paise, which he believed was overcharging. He was told that his complaint would be conveyed to the management and he would receive a message regarding the issue or refunded the excess if he had been charged wrongfully or by mistake.
When the restaurant did not respond, he escalated the issue to the Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission in Gandhinagar. The complainant submitted that under the pretext of rounding off the final amount, the restaurant charged more from its customers, revealing its intention to earn more. He argued that it should be fined heavily to stop it from duping its customers.
The restaurant defended itself, explaining that the bill was rounded off according to official guidelines. It argued that the billing software was set up to follow official rules while generating bills.
The legal battle for such a paltry sum irked the consumer commission, which stated, "The complaint was filed to recover 24 paise from the opponent (eatery), which is a mockery of justice and painful. The opponent submitted that the bill was generated by rounding off the amount according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and govt guidelines. The complainant filed a false complaint and misled the commission. In our view, the complaint appears frivolous, and the commission's precious time has been wasted by filing this complaint to get only 24 paise."
The commission ruled in favour of the restaurant, dismissing Patel's claim and ordering him to pay Rs 1,000 as a penalty with the State Consumer Welfare Fund.