Thirteen fruit stall operators were fined up to $10,000 in the first seven months for supplying fruit of short weight, the Customs & Excise Department says. Another four operators who recently committed the offence will also be charged.

According to the Government Laboratory's examination results, the net weight of the fruit the 17 operators sold was less than the purported weight. The differences ranged from 5% to 50%.

Seven of them had used defective weighing equipment. The other 10 operators claimed a weight heavier than the actual one when they sold the goods to customers.

The fruit sold included plums, grapes, cherries, lychees, longans, mangoes and tangerines.