The recently concluded Deepavali shopping spree by Bangaloreans no doubt helped the shopping malls and multi-brand stores in the city make huge profits, in the form of sales, but it also saw them making a few extra bucks due to pilferage by their customers.

Yes, the pilfering that the customers indulged in while shopping at some of the leading shopping malls have made them earn additional profit. “Many customers were caught while pilfering during this Deepavali season and as per our Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), anyone who is caught doing such acts will have to pay three to four times the cost of the merchandise that is stolen,” a store manager of a shopping mall told Deccan Herald on condition of anonymity.

A leading multi-brand chain saw close to 15 cases of  shoplifting during the two-week Deepavali shopping season and the fines imposed on them varied from 5 to 20 per cent of the value of the stolen goods.

Preferred items

Clothes and accessories in the form of watches, belts, caps were the most preferred products and the the cost of the pilfered products varied from Rs 100 to Rs 20,000.

Women employed in IT companies, banks, party-goers and college girls studying in reputed educational institutions have also been caught shoplifting, according to store employees.

“When they are caught, the common excuse given by them is that they are   Kleptomaniac. However,  a few stubborn ones confessed to the crime after we threatened to send a mail to their workplaces or home, informing them about the shoplifting incident,” said a surveillance officer in a store, where on an average two incidents were reported every day during the Deepavali shopping season.

In order to check such pilferage, the big stores and malls have sensors and beepers attached to the merchandises. However, there were incidents when these tags were broken by the customers before they tried to frisk the product out of the stores, says Satish Bhat, Area Controller, (South and East), Shopper’s Stop Limited.
“Whenever such an incident takes place, we request these customers to pay the bill which they do on most occasions. If they refuse, the law takes its own course,” he said.