'Making customers pay for freebies is difficult'

Retailers say they did not get enough time to educate consumers about Environment Ministry's directive to charge for plastic bags from July 1 to discourage its use

IT is tough to convince customers to pay for things they were hitherto getting for free and the city's retailers have learnt the hard way ever since an environment ministry notification (see box) made it mandatory for them to charge customers for plastic bags from July 1.


City retailers are claiming it is unfair of the mandate
demanding that customers pay for plastic bags as they
did not have sufficient time and is affecting business
during sale periods

They grumble that they were not given enough time to educate consumers about the directive and say that it should not have come in force during the sale season.

Sanjay Vakharia, director, Spykar Lifestyles Pvt Ltd, said he welcomed the move but hastened to add that the notification was sudden.

"It would have been better if we were given enough time to create awareness and announce that no free shopping bags would be made available henceforth. It has become difficult to handle fussy customers who are used to free plastic bags and also tend to ask for extra bags," he said.

"The timing of the move could have been better as it has been enforced bang in the middle of sale season, when the logistics are planned and ready," he added.

A senior official from a retail store in Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel, echoed Vakharia's views.

"People are not aware of the new ruling and, hence, they feel that we are overcharging them. Making consumers pay for freebies is difficult.

We have now pasted the notification on the store's walls to raise awareness. We should have been given some time to implement the directive.
u00a0
The quality of plastic bags is bad during a sale but we have no choice but to charge consumers for them because of the last-minute notification," he said.

Green move
The Retailers' Association of India (RAI) which represents retail majors such as the Future Group, Aditya Birla More, Reliance Retail and Shoppers Stop among others, has coordinated the initiative to charge between Rs 1 and Rs 7 for plastic bags depending on the store's format.

RAI officials said the move was a green one and that customers will also be given the option of bringing their own bags.

"Charging customers for plastic bags will definitely help save the environment by leading to a drop in their consumption. We had no real alternatives for this move and we feel that people will not use plastic bags as much if they are made to pay for them," said Kumar Rajgopalan, CEO, RAI.

Consumers, however, feel the move is impractical. "I had bought quite a few clothes at a discounted price at one of the megastores when I was told that I would have to pay for plastic bags.

The information should have been given beforehand and the authorities need to gives us a cheap, convenient and sturdy alternative to plastic bags before banning or charging for them," said Smita Naik, a third-year B.Com student.

Directive
The union environment ministry had notified new rules for plastic waste management that require municipal authorities to fix a minimum price for carry bags as well as ban the use of plastic sachets for storing, packing, or selling chewable tobacco.

The ministry's notification had said that no carry bags should be made available free of cost to consumers.
It also directed state governments/union territories to determine a minimum price for carry bags, which covers the cost of the material as well as that of waste management.

The notification was designed to act as a deterrent to the excessive use of plastic bags and make people to switch to greener alternatives instead.

Bangladesh was the first country to ban plastic bags in 2002 amid worries that they were blocking drains during the monsoon. Denmark and Ireland have both experimented with taxing plastic bags

80 lakh
The approximate number of plastic bags used in the city every day