A monitoring team from the Department of Commerce and Supply Management (DoCSM) last week had found that the company had been selling Sona Mansuli Rice as Pari Brown Rice.
Likewise, the monitors also found that the company was charging customers Rs 110 per kg for the Sona Mansuli Rice packaged as Pari Brown Rice. Sona Mansuli Rice is available in the market at around Rs 60 per kg.
"The company was found selling Sona Mansuli Rice in the name of Brown Rice and was also charging customers higher prices," Hari Narayan Belbase, director of the department, told Republica, adding: "This is clearly black market activity. We are preparing to file a case against the firm as soon as possible."
Pari Brown Rice was launched by the company in October last year.
According to DoCSM officials, the company's Pari Brown Rice available in the market was basically the Sano Mansuli Rice from the Tarai region of the country.
Moreover, Belbase also charged that the company was into false promotion of its products. During its launch, the company had been claiming that Pari Brown Rice could control illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes.
Madhav Timsina, president of Consumer Rights' Investigation Forum, said that Pari Brown Rice had not only cheated customers but there also was not enough information available in the labels in its packets. "It is the result of lack of a strong policy from the government to control food adulteration," Timsina said.
Meanwhile, Nisesh Kumar, managing director of Prime Edible Industry, said his company was not cheating customers in type or quality. However, he admitted that it was selling Sona Mansuli Rice calling it Brown Rice. "We basically produce one kilogram packages of this rice. The price of Pari Brown Rice is high because the production cost of one kilogram package itself is high," Kumar said.
Related story
Don’t throw that rice water away, use it like this!
