Social media is outraged with Decathlon as they have started a new rule. Apparently, the French retailer is refusing business to anyone who does not provide their contact details at the time of the billing.
Decathlon’s insistence on recording mobile numbers/email IDs at the sales counter was first flagged by IAS officer Captain P Manivannan, who alerted regulators including the state’s consumer affairs department as well as the BBMP, which issues trade licenses.
The officer escalated the issue after the French retailer wrote him a letter defending its stand. In its letter, the company cited a number of reasons including the consumer court judgments that have gone against sellers on grounds of deficient service, to defend its request of mobile numbers/mail IDs from customers.
The letter stated,
It is our company’s firm stance that we will not take the risk of selling to a customer who we cannot contact for any emergencies, or whose purchase history is not recorded in our database.
In a tweet, Manivannan, who is now secretary at labor and information departments, said,
As far as I know, there is no such law. Decathlon has taken umbrage under the Indian Contract Act 1872 and says that unless we ‘agree’ and enter into a contract with them to give our number, the company will not deal with us! Why would BBMP allow this on its denizens?.
But this is not the only incidence, recently a Bangalore‘s resident tweeted about facing issues in outlets such as Star Bazaar, Big Bazaar, Avon Sports, Medplus, Ratnadeep Stores and Shop On. He tweeted,
The sellers say they cannot generate the bill until we provide our details.
Rao, the police commissioner, on Sunday, tweeted that the first step to stop cybercrime is not share your mobile number with shops, malls, etc. Our number is sold as data. By giving our number we have opened our cyber door of all we have.
