Rahul Bajaj ordered to explain misleading ad campaign

Rahul Bajaj ordered to explain misleading ad campaign
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NAGPUR, MARCH 3: A local court has issued summons to the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Bajaj Auto Limited, Rahul Bajaj, and 25 others, including company directors and the local dealer of Bajaj two-wheelers, following a complaint filed by a citizen, accusing the company of misleading its customers over the "Bajaj Crorepati Hungama" scheme.

Devrao Vithoba Satpute of Duttawadi, who filed the plaint, has claimed that the company continued to issue advertisements publicising the scheme that promised, among other things, a bumper jackpot of Rs 1 crore, despite the fact that the bumper prize had already been declared in favour of a person from Ludhiana in Punjab.

The scheme was implemented all over the country between December 1 and 31, last year. It envisaged awards like cash prizes of Rs 1 lakh to 100 lucky customers, 700 audio sets and 7,000 cameras apart from the bumper prize. Drawn by the ad, Satpute approached the local Bajaj dealer in the last week of December to purchase a two-wheeler which would entail him to a scratch-card for the scheme. The card yielded him a wrist-watch.

However, he stated that he was shocked to learn early in January that the bumper prize had already been declared on December 6 and duly given to the winner at Ludhiana. The firm did not notify this in their ads and continued to attract customers using the scheme. Satpute has objected to this deception while describing the said advertisement as misleading.