Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Aug 24, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Aug 24, 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
Marketing
-
Regulatory Bodies & Rulings Corporate - Corporate Disputes Now, LG takes Whirlpool to court Our Bureau
NEW DELHI, Aug. 23 IS it just marketing one upmanship or a genuine concern to help consumers? First, it was LG Electronics of India Pvt Ltd that was hauled to the Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) for allegedly misrepresenting facts on its products by Whirlpool of India Ltd and Godrej Appliances Ltd. Now it is Whirlpool's turn to face the music. An individual consumer and LG Electronics had filed a petition before MRTPC on August 19 against Whirlpool. In their petition they had alleged that Whirlpool was indulging in unfair trade practices (UTP) in order to promote the sale of its products, particularly its refrigerators. The Commission on Friday, while considering all the three petitions filed by the durable majors, directed them to submit their replies in two weeks time. As per the petition filed by Whirlpool and Godrej Appliances, LG Electronics was overstating its product capacity. The petition stated that LG Electronics was misleading the consumer by overclaiming the capacity by 11-14 per cent on its frost-free models where the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) allows only three per cent variation on the declared capacity. The recent petition filed by LG Electronics states that in the sales promotion material published by Whirlpool, the company has falsely represented to consumers that all the refrigerators manufactured by it conform to BIS specifications. This, even though BIS specifications are not applicable to frost-free refrigerators, the petition claims. They further submitted that Whirlpool had not only misrepresented facts about the quality/specifications of its refrigerators, but had also made false and misleading statements in order to disparage the goods manufactured by LG Electronics. The second complainant, New Delhi-based Mr Santosh Kumar Singh, in the petition said that because of the false representations of Whirlpool in the pamphlet/brochure/handbill issued by it, he was misled into purchasing a refrigerator manufactured by the company. When asked about the LG Electronics complaint, Whirlpool officials told Business Line, "Compliance with BIS is voluntary and one does not need certification from BIS to do so. Besides, since the matter is sub-judice, we will take up the issue at the next hearing." The matter is now scheduled for hearing by MRTPC on September 18.
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|