Faulty milk, silent helplines: Consumers fume at Dhamul

Hubballi: Consumers are finding it difficult to lodge complaints with the Dharwad Milk Union (Dhamul) over faulty and expired Nandini milk products, as customer care helplines are frequently out of service.

Even when calls connect, consumers are often redirected to multiple numbers, spending hours pursuing their grievances. Complaints have also surfaced about foul-smelling milk packets and expiry dates that are difficult to read.Savitri Naik, an LLB graduate and resident of Vidyanagar, told TOI that she called Dhamul’s customer care numbers — 0836-2467643 and 18004250447 — only to hear a recorded message stating, “This number is not registered.

Please call after sometime.”“As the milk smelled like medicine, I went to the shop in Shirur Park that sold it. The shopkeeper said he had received several similar complaints and advised me to contact customer care. After trying for half a day, I finally got through, but the staff member gave me another mobile number. When I called that number, I was given yet another contact. The third person finally said he had not received any such complaints,” she said.

Naik questioned how consumers could register complaints when Dhamul’s helplines were largely inaccessible. “We trust Nandini products, but the response has been highly irresponsible,” she said.Mayur Patil, a private employee, said that after repeated failed attempts to call customer care, he emailed his complaint to [email protected], which is printed on the milk packets. “However, we did not receive any response,” he said.A shopkeeper in Akshay Park said demand for Nandini milk remained high, but many customers complained that expiry dates printed on the packets were not clearly visible.“On some packets, a black strip runs across the date. When we brought the issue to the attention of marketing officials, no action was taken. We now advise customers not to buy such packets and return them to Dhamul,” he said.Responding to the allegations, DT Kalasad, managing director of Dhamul, said the union packs around 60,000 milk packets, containing 30,000 litres, in a single batch.“If one packet is faulty, all 60,000 should show the same defect. However, we have not received such feedback from dealers or retailers. There is a possibility that the packets absorb odours because of their functional properties. This may happen during transportation, at retail stalls or even in consumers’ homes. If we receive a proper complaint, we will send staff to inspect it. We are not prepared to lose even a single consumer,” he said.On the issue of non-functional customer care numbers, Kalasad said he would immediately examine the system and take steps to rectify it at the earliest.