Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu has revealed how he was taken for a ‘ride’ by a company which assured that his weight would be reduced. “Nothing fruittful occurred later except that I wasted a few bucks,” he told the Rajya Sabha in a lighter vein.

Winter Session of Parliament is going on for the past two weeks. Yesterday, a new Bill ensuring the safety of consumers was introduced in Rajya Sabha after which a debate was held on the various methods adopted by companies in duping/cheating their customers. Joining the debate, Rajya Sabha chairperson and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu too shared his own (bitter) experience of getting cheated by one such firm.

It turned out that soon after he became Vice-President last year, Naidu came across an advertisement which promised weight reduction at a cost of just Rs.1000.  The VP responded to the advertisement and paid Rs.1000 via online after which he didn’t receive tablets but received an e-mail message asking him to pay another Rs.1000 before the tablets are sent.

He was also told that tablets (for weight reduction) would be sent only if the second instalment was paid. He then alerted Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan who ordered an inquiry into the advertisement. The inquiry revealed that the weight-reduction tablet firm wasn’t based in Delhi but in U.S.  After narrating this experience the vice-president said stern action should be taken against such firms.