l Under the pretext of chilling beverages, retailers are overcharging customers, way beyond the MRP l Legal Metrology Rules clearly define the retail price as the maximum price
They should have been selling drinks at the Maximum Retail Price (MRP), but a number of retailers in Mormugao taluka have been adopting another MRP strategy – Maximum Retail Profit.
Under the pretext of chilling soft drinks and other beverages, many retailers in Mormugao have been overcharging customers, way beyond the maximum retail price. The price hike ranges between Re 1 to as high as Rs 6-7 and retailers openly justify these inflated price tags to “chill” the drinks and other facilities offered to customers.
Legal Metrology Rules clearly define the retail price as the maximum price at which the commodity may be sold to the ultimate consumer, adding that the price shall be printed in the form of the MRP that is inclusive of all taxes.
Rules also stipulate that no wholesale dealer shall make any sale of any commodity in packed form at a price exceeding the retail sale price, while no retailer, dealer or other person, including the manufacturer, packer, importer and wholesale dealer “shall make any sale of any commodity in packed form at a price exceeding the retail sale price.”
When Herald sought to know why cold drinks and other beverages were being charged rates exceeding the MRP, one vendor who spoke on condition of anonymity insisted that the additional charges were being levied to “chill” the product.
“There is hardly any profit margin on a single bottle and we have to manage the store rent, electricity charges and other overheads. As such, we are forced to charge customers rates beyond the MRP as cooling charges,” admitted the shopkeeper.
When contacted, R M Borkar, Legal Metrology Inspector at the Weights and Measures office said, “Our office has been conducting monthly inspections and we have been penalising those retailers who have been found selling soft drinks at prices higher than the MRP.”
“Our office has been conducting monthly inspections and we have been penalising those retailers who have been found selling soft drinks at prices higher than the MRP.”
When asked about the fines collected from the erring retailers and shopkeepers, Borkar was reluctant to divulge further details and instead, informed this reporter to contact the Controller of Legal Metrology in Porvorim.
While retailers offer chilled soft drinks beyond the MRP rates, the situation is no different with hard drinks, with the profit margin even higher than soft drinks and dairy products.
When contacted, S Pereira, inspector at the Excise Department in Vasco also informed that retailers have to charge as per the MRP rates.
“In the case of chilled beverages, many outlets do charge extra considering the refrigeration and cooling charges and we are aware of this fact,” said Pereira.
“We haven’t received any complaint in this matter and we can only act on receiving complaints from aggrieved customers,” Pereira added.
