Chennaiite S. Bhavani (23) got a new, expensive Nokia iPhone while she was hanging out with her friends in a city mall two weeks ago.

This MBA student already has a Samsung phone which has all facilities like music, Internet, GPS and high-resolution camera. “I was tempted by the ads.

I got influenced by the coloruful ambience of the store and was attracted towards the gadgets and so bought the new iPhone,” she confesses.

IT professional K. Manikandan (28) went to a supermarket to buy vegetables and essentials for his house.

Though he and his friends shop once a week for groceries, Manikandan picked up a big packet of soup this time. Within half-an-hour his trolley was full and the bill rose to Rs 2,000. “I realised that I had got many unwanted eatables only after I got the bill,” he rues.

Similar to Bhavani and Manikandan, many of us often buy things which we do not need, say experts. Why do we buy the things we ‘want’ instead of the things we ‘need’?

Consumer rights activist S. Martin said shoppers should plan before they step into malls. “These days, many consumers just go around department stores with big trolleys. They come out with fat bills filling the carts with unwanted things,” he said.

Mr Martin mentioned a case where an advocate was cheated by a toothpaste firm that claimed to give two pastes for the price of one. But the second paste, in a similar package, was a smaller one.

Tamil Nadu progressive consumer centre (TNPCC) coordinator T. Sadagopan cautioned, “Before visiting a shop, you should be clear whether you can afford to buy all the things which you desire to buy.”

After checking the MRP of the product and expiry date in the case of food items, you should ensure that you have the bill for all the products you bought, he advised.

Over 4,000 cases pending in state

Over 4,000 consumer cases are pending with various district consumer courts across the state.
More than 1,900 cases are pending with the appellate consumer commission till now.

Scores of petitioners are depressed with the long-drawn battle to win justice through consumer forums.

Senior court officials say that lack of infrastructure and vacancy of posts of members in various district consumer forums delay justice.

Mr J. Venkatesan, an auto driver in Chennai, filed a case in 2003 against a private finance agency which promised to provide loans but delayed payment.

The consumer court, which heard the case in mid-2005, ordered the firm to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 within three months. But it failed to obey the order.

Mr Venkatesan filed another petition with the consumer court to get the money. And the court, with the help of the local police, ensured that he received the compensation by the end of 2011.

Another consumer, Mr R. Kaliamurthy, retired official of the state transport department, has been undergoing severe mental agony after filing a case.

“I filed a medical negligence case against a doctor in Kumbakonam as my daughter died due to deficiency of service in the hospital. I filed the case with the Thanjavur court in 2006 which dismissed my case in 2011,” he said.

“Now, I have filed an appeal in the apex body. I wonder how many years it would take to get justice,” he moaned.

When asked about pendency of cases, Mr R. Sankaramoorthy, registrar in-charge of the state consumer commission, the apex body of consumer forums in TN, said, “On an average, 212 cases are disposed of every month in the state.”

“We need proper infrastructure facilities and filling up of posts ranging from consumer forum members to stenos,” he added.