Amid last-minute mad rush for Eid shopping, Aarong’s showroom in Uttara of Dhaka was shut down today for a few hours and fined Tk 4.5 lakh for discrepancies in pricing labels of two similar products.

On receipt of complaint from a customer that Aarong charged Tk 1,315 for a panjabi on May 31 which was sold at Tk 730 on May 25, the Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection (DNCRP) launched the special drive at its Uttara outlet and realized the fine.

“During a drive, we found the claim of the customer is true and slapped the fine,” Manjur Mohammad Shahriar, deputy director (Dhaka division) told The Daily Star.

The punishment handed down to Aarong is a symbolic one and they admitted that a mistake was done by them, said the official who supervised the special drive.

The DNCRP in a separate drive also fined Tk 2 lakh Vasavi Fashion showroom in Gulshan area as staff of the outlet could not show proper import documents of a Lehenga with a price tag Tk 85,000.

The fine is also meant for selling some foreign cosmetic items without sticker, said Manjur Mohammad Shahriar, deputy director (Dhaka division). 

He said they also fined Bikrampur Mistanna Bhander Tk 50,000 for selling substandard sweets and another small Bakery Tk 20,000.

Chief Operating Officer of Aarong Mohammad Ashraful Alam, said after the magistrate's visit, they immediately conducted an internal investigation and found that price tags of these products were placed wrongly.

“We regret the inconvenience caused unintendedly and are working with the authorities to resume normal operation as soon as possible.”

“Our customers are entitled to claim a refund if any pricing discrepancy is found as per standard store policy,” he added.

Meanwhile, our Manikganj correspondent reports that Asaduzzaman Rumel, Assistant Director of the district’s DNCRP fined Tk. 60,000 to owners of two ferry canteens at Paturia Ghat in Manikganj for selling the goods at a higher price than the fixed price.

Owner of the canteen of Shah Makhdum Ferry was fined Tk 50,000 while the owner of the canteen of Birshreshtha Matiur Rahman Ferry was fined Tk 10 thousand, said Asaduzzaman.