Now, consumers could alert the Legal Metrology Department if they receive underweight cement bags from dealers.

The central zone of the department, which has jurisdiction over Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Idukki, will keep a close eye on cement manufacturers and dealers after they received complaints on sale of underweight cement bags.

“The public could alert us at 0484-2423180 when they buy underweight cement bags. We carried out inspections at the packing houses of three cement manufacturers under the central zone of the department here. But we could not find any anomalies during the checks,” said R. Ram Mohan, Deputy Controller of the department’s central zone.

However, Mr. Ram Mohan said a close watch would be kept on suppliers and dealers as they needed to confirm where the fraud was taking place. “Consumers have complained that they received underweight cement bags. An improved focus will be now kept at multi-levels,” he said.

For instance, consumers had reported a reduction of two to three kilograms in the declared net weight of a 50-kg bag. Most often consumers would not take the pain of rechecking the original weight of the cement bags, helping violators go scot-free.

As per the Packaged Commodities Rules, the statistical average of the sample should be equal to or not less than the declared quantity and also no bag should show error in deficiency more than Maximum Permissible Error (MPE).

Dealers who do not want to sell underweight cement bags could send it back to the manufacturer or packers. Stringent action will be taken against those who violate the instructions. The manufacturers will be asked to withdraw all underweight cement packets from the market, once the department seizes such consignments. Consumers have been asked to buy cement only after confirming the weight.

The Metrology Department will also take action against violation of labelling norms, which are mandatory under the Packaged Commodities Rules, in cement bags.

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Printable version | Aug 12, 2022 11:33:00 pm | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/legal-metrology-to-crack-down-on-underweight-cement-bag-sellers/article23662824.ece