In Mapusa, many local vendors — especially at the bustling Friday market — have been using faulty weights and measures to cheat unsuspecting customers. Just last week, I purchased local pulses and rice from the market, and when I weighed them back at home, I realised I had been blatantly short-changed.
One pod (a standard local measure) of rice, which usually weighs around 800 grams, weighed barely 600 grams. That’s a shortfall of 200 grams per measure. At Rs 80 per pod, the loss adds up quickly. It’s even worse with Halsande (beans), which cost Rs 300 per pod — meaning customers are being robbed of both quantity and money. Just imagine the scale of this loot and plunder happening week after week in broad daylight.
This isn’t just an occasional oversight — it amounts to daylight robbery, and it’s high time action is taken.
The Department of Legal Metrology, which is tasked with regulating the use of accurate weights and measures in trade and commerce, must step in immediately. It is their responsibility to ensure that consumers receive the exact weight, measure, and number of any commodity they pay for.
Regular checks and surprise raids should be conducted in markets like Mapusa, especially during peak days like Fridays, to catch and penalise vendors who knowingly use tampered or faulty measures. Booking these violators under the relevant legal provisions is essential — not only to protect consumers, but also to uphold fair trade practices and discourage dishonest vendors from fleecing the public.
Until such steps are taken with seriousness and consistency, the common man will continue to suffer at the hands of those who profit through deceit.