Consumer Court Orders Rs 14.41 Lakh Compensation for Poultry Farmers Over Defective Feed.

In a recent judgment, District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Baramulla has ruled in favor of two poultry farmers, Lone Poultry and KGN Poultry of Sopore in a case of the supply of inferior quality poultry feed by Maha Feeds Agrotech and its dealer, Bhat Poultries.

The poultry feed provided to them by the concerned company had an inferior protein content of 20%, as guaranteed, which is critical for the normal growth of poultry birds. The farmers experienced excessive mortality and slow growth among the birds in poultry and then had the feed analyzed at a certified nutrition laboratory in Srinagar. The analysis indicated that the protein content was 15.5%, which is lower than the stated standard.

In the defense, the opposite parties contented that they had not made any guarantee about the protein content and argued that the complaint was groundless and may have occurred due to viral infections instead of the feed. But the Commission concluded that the feed was sold with no nutritional chart being placed on the packaging, which is a requirement under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) guidelines.

The Commission referred to this exclusion as an unfair trade practice under Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

After taking into view all the evidence and listening to arguments on both sides, the Commission instructed the opposite parties to pay Rs. 5,00,000 each to the two complainants as compensation for the losses incurred due to the low-quality feed. The opposite parties were also instructed to refund Rs. 2,22,457 and Rs. 1,89,016, which were the amounts the complainants had paid for buying the faulty feed.

The Commission also ordered to pay Rs. 30,000 as costs of litigation and to withdraw from the market any poultry feed that does not bear a nutritional chart. In addition, the Commission ordered them to make all future supplies comply fully with BIS norms by placing complete nutrition data on each bag of feed.

Together, the Commission granted a compensation of Rs. 14,41,473 to the complainants. The opposite parties have been directed to comply with the given directions within four weeks from the date of receipt of the order.

Published by Voxya as an initiative to help consumers in resolving consumer complaints.