Is charging for carry bags an unfair trade practice?

Should retailers be allowed to charge for carry bags, or is it an unfair trade practice? More than two years after the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ruled in favour of buyers, the humble carry bag is set to return to the centre of a legal debate as the Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the commission's 2021 judgment and directed it to decide afresh whether retailers can be penalised for asking buyers to pay for carry bags.

- Utkarsh Anand

"We hold that questions of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice are matters which have to be considered by the national commission," directed a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol.

It was imperative upon the apex consumer body to consider the substantial questions of law involved in the matter since the order of the commission was being followed by district fora and state consumer commissions in several other cases, the judges held. It will be open for the commission to frame appropriate questions of law to determine within the contours of the 1986 Consumer Protection Act as to the charging for carry bags by retailers can be indicted as an unfair trade practice or deficiency in service, the bench said.