It even restricted the sales of Mayos noodles till the investigation is complete.[break]
"Selling goods less than specified in the packet is a gross act of cheating. Hence, we sealed all 115 boxes of noodles present in the store and also the warehouse. We have also restricted the sales of Mayos noodles till the investion is completed," said Sashibhusan Yadav, NBSM regional chief.
The officials of NBSM had found shortall in quantity in Mayos packs after they weighed the samples during a sudden raid of the warehouse on complains from consumers. The warehouse belonged to Bishnu-Lila Suppliers at Biratnagar-7 and Mayos is a premium product of Himalayan Snax and Noodles, a subsidiary of the Khetan Group.
According to NBSM officials, weighing of the samples had unveiled the pack of containing as much as 4 grams less noodles than what the company specified as net weight in the packs, that is 75 grams. The company retails Mayos noodles at Rs 15 per pack of 75 grams.
"Most of the noodles found at the warehouse wighed 71 grams, 72 grams, 72.3 grams and 74.5 grams," said Yadav. He said restricting the sales was important because the office does not want other consumers to be cheated.
NBSM has also sought for a written clarification from Bishnu Niraula, the proprietor of the store. "But as the anomaly apprently happened from manufacturers´ side, we may ask clarifications from the managers of the Himalayan Snacks and Noodles as well,” Yadav added.
If the company is found guilty, the manager of the company will be penalized under the Consumer Protection Act and Standard Weights and Measures Act, he stated.
The noodles are manufactured at factories located in Kavrepalanchowk and Rupandehi. There are 4 dealers of Mayos noodles in Biratnagar. The NBSM officials had inspected the warehouse after it received complaint from Parul Chettri, president of ´Campaign against Corruption´ about less weight of Mayos noodles.
Niraula said that he has taken dealership of Mayos noodles just 15 days back and he was unaware about the weight of the noodles.
This is not the first time Himalayan Snax and Noodles have been charged of cheating consumers. Market inspectors in 2007 too had found it of selling Ruchi noodles, other popular brand of the company, containing less than said weight of the noodles.
The NBSM had sealed 900 boxes of noodles with lesser weight at Fewa Trade Center--authorized distributor of the company in Pokhara. Coincidentally, Yadav was the regional chief of NBSM at Pokhara then. The NBSM had suspended its sales for the time being.
“At that time we had found packs of Ruchi noodles weighing just 56 grams, whereas its labelled weight was 70 grams,” Yadav told Republica.
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