When Bebinaz Akter Toma picked up a detergent packet from a shop, she thought she was buying her usual one-kilogram pack.
The price was familiar – Tk235. The packaging looked similar. Nothing on the front of the packet suggested that the quantity was different.
Only after returning home, she realised that the packet contained 900 grams, not one kilogram. The quantity was printed in tiny lettering in a corner of the packet – something consumers can easily overlook, particularly when they have no reason to expect the quantity to have changed.
“I thought it was a one-kilogram packet and brought it home. The price was Tk235, the same as the previous one-kilogram packet. Reducing 100 grams and selling it at the same price is nothing but cheating,” Toma told TIMES.
Her experience reflects a growing problem for consumers as companies introduce products in unusual quantities, making it harder to compare prices and determine value for money.
The change has become possible after Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) relaxed the packaged commodities rules in 2025, giving manufacturers greater flexibility in choosing product sizes.
Introduced in 2007, the rules prescribed standard weights for essential products, including detergent, rice, flour, edible oil, soap, sauces and honey. The objective was to make pricing transparent and prevent practices such as selling 950ml edible oil bottles as one litre.
Before the third amendment in 2025, detergent products above 500 grams could only be sold in standard sizes such as one kilogram, one and a half kilograms and two kilograms.
The revised rules now allow detergent products above 500 grams to be sold in any quantity in multiples of 50 grams, opening the market to packs such as 900 grams.
Toma said the increasing variety of pack sizes has made shopping more complicated.
“When products with similar prices are available in 90-gram, 115-gram or 135-gram packs, consumers have to calculate separately to understand which one is actually cheaper. It creates additional pressure,” she said.
Other consumers also said unusual package sizes make comparisons difficult.
Mezbaul Haque Simanto, another consumer, said buyers usually focus on total prices rather than calculating the cost per 100 grams or per kilogram.
“Consumers usually remember sizes like 125 grams or 150 grams. When products come in 130 or 135 grams, it becomes difficult to immediately understand whether the price has increased or decreased,” he told TIMES.
Private job holder Suraiya Akter said companies could use unusual sizes to reduce quantities without attracting attention.
“Products such as ketchup, soy sauce and kasundi now come in very different quantities. Some are 340 grams, some 220 grams and some 285 grams. It is difficult to understand which one is actually cheaper. The difference becomes clear only when calculated by weight,” she said.
Several examples are visible in the market. While most companies sell dry cake in 300-gram packs, one company has introduced a 290-gram pack. Honey is available in a 217-gram pack, kasundi in a 285-gram pack and barbecue sauce in 490-gram and 570-gram packs.
A company that previously sold 250-gram tomato sauce has reduced the quantity by 10 grams after the rule change.
Although these reductions appear small, they often go unnoticed by consumers while allowing companies to improve margins without changing prices.
The rule change has also affected soap and detergent categories.
Before the amendment, BSTI prescribed specific weights for laundry soap, detergent bars and toilet soaps. For example, laundry soap had to follow sizes such as 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 grams, followed by multiples of 50 grams.
A notification issued on 24 July last year brought non-soap detergent cakes or bars and all types of toilet and bath soaps under a single category.
Under the revised rule, there are no restrictions on packaging sizes below 150 grams. For products above 150 grams, manufacturers must follow multiples of 25 grams.
As a result, 90-gram Lux, 115-gram Savlon, 135-gram Dove and 130-gram Wheel, Tibet and Keya laundry soaps comply with the current rules because they fall below the 150-gram threshold.
The amendment also changed packaging options for other products. For coffee, the unrestricted packaging limit was increased from below 50 grams to below 100 grams, while 180-gram and 190-gram sizes were added.
For cereals and pulses, the previous requirement that quantities above five kilograms be sold in five-kilogram multiples was replaced with a requirement for one-kilogram multiples. The revised rules also introduced new pack sizes, including 75 grams, 150 grams, 350 grams and 750 grams, for laundry detergent powder.
For edible oil, manufacturers are now required to declare quantity by volume.
BSTI defended the changes, saying they were made after discussions with relevant stakeholders.
Mohammad Mazharul Haque, director of BSTI’s Metrology Department, said proposals to amend the rules were sent to the ministry after discussions with manufacturers, consumers and other stakeholders.
“Considering the demands of consumers and manufacturers, proposals to amend the Packaged Commodities Rules were sent to the ministry after discussions with all concerned parties. Later, changes were made through an inter-ministerial meeting involving companies, consumer representatives, consumer rights organisations and other stakeholders,” he told TIMES.
He also said some products, including soap and bread, may lose weight after production due to drying, which is why the law allows a specific tolerance limit.
Haque claimed that the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) supported the changes. However, CAB President AHM Shafiquzzaman denied holding any discussion with BSTI on the issue.
“The concerned organisations did not hold any discussion with Cab regarding changes to product weights or package quantities,” he told TIMES.
He said the concern was whether companies had valid reasons for reducing quantities or increasing prices.
“Selling 900 grams instead of one kilogram may now be legally possible. But our concern is whether companies have logical reasons behind reducing quantities while keeping prices unchanged or increasing prices,” he said.
Muhammad Ismail Hossain, professor at the Marketing Department of the University of Dhaka, said consumers are generally accustomed to familiar sizes such as 250 grams, 500 grams and one kilogram.
“Companies can reduce a one-kilogram packet to 900 grams or a 500-gram packet to 450 grams without making major changes to the package design. As a result, consumers often fail to notice the reduction immediately,” he told TIMES.
He said such practices are linked to the marketing concept of “just noticeable difference” (JND), where changes remain below the level consumers easily detect.
“Such strategies make price comparisons difficult. After later realising that the quantity has been reduced, consumers may feel deceived,” he added.
