₹50 lakh to be paid to complainant

Holding PepsiCo guilty of “unfair trade practices”, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the company to compensate a complainant by paying over ₹50 lakh.

Complainant Karishma had alleged that despite winning an online game floated by PepsiCo during the 2010 Indian Premier League, the company did not give her the reward prize of ₹50 lakh.

Ms. Karishma said she had participated in an online game conducted by Pepsi called “Pepsi Youngistan Ka Wow” in 2010. On successfully completing all the four rounds, she received a message confirming her as the winner. On contacting the representatives, she was informed that the prize money would be given to her within three days. Later, they informed her that the prize money was awarded to somebody else, she alleged.

“[PepsiCo] submitted that they never sent her the said message,” read the order. The complainant, it said, was accused of fabricating the message with a view to defrauding and extracting money from them. “Defence raised is that the complainant saved her own number in the mobile phone and sent the message to her own phone.” Terming the contentions “impractical”, the forum dismissed the arguments.