Cheating on Oil Packets, Odisha Bans Low-Weight Edible Oil Packets: State Traders Federation’s Big Decision
Bhubaneswar: Consumers are not getting as much oil as they are paying for when buying edible oil. The weight of a liter of pouch should be 910 grams, but the weight of some edible oil pouches sold in the state is less than 850 grams. The State Traders Federation has expressed concern over this and has moved to the consumer court. A case has been filed in the consumer court of Bhubaneswar against various companies selling low-weight oil. The association has informed that the case will be filed in the High Court within the next 23 days.
- Instead of 910 grams, 850 grams is less
- Odisha Traders Association will go to High Court
Union General Secretary Sudhakar Panda said that the court has been requested to lay down a specific national standard for edible oil. Dealers and distributors have been urged by the federation to check edible oil packages weighing less than 850 grams, especially palm oil, which varies widely in weight. Consumers have been asked by the association to buy the oil labeled 870 grams in the pouch. The rationale behind this is that since the 910 gm sachets are not particularly available, a call to stop their sale or purchase will create an unpleasant situation as there will be a shortage of edible oil in the market. However, the court’s help has been sought to ensure that companies focus on providing consumers with the correct weight of edible oil. 1 crore 90 lakh tonnes of edible oil is sold annually across the country, of which 5.60 lakh tonnes of oil is sold in Odisha. Odisha is a dual oil-consuming state. This means that people have two different cooking oils in their homes. People are using one for flavoring and the other for cooking. For flavoring, they choose mustard oil and for cooking choose sunflower or rice bran oil.
