Let me cut and paste a page from Legal service India.com on Maximum Retail Price( Chhoti Sahi):-
Under the Consumer Goods (Mandatory Printing of Cost of Production and Maximum Retail Price) Act, 2006, certain guidelines has been provided so that the consumer can not charged over to the maximum price printed on the goods by the manufacturer. These guidelines are as follows:
1. consumer goods mean all goods and items brought in the market for sale and are meant for the use and consumption of the consumers;
2. cost of production means cost incurred directly or indirectly by the manufacturer in the production of goods;
3.printing means printing of the cost of production and retail price at a visible place on the product in Hindi and English and the local language of the place it is sold; and
4. maximum retail price means such price at which the product shall be sold in retail and such price shall include all taxes levied on the product.
The legislation has made it mandatory for the manufacturers to printing of cost of production and maximum retail price on packaging of consumer goods, so that the consumer could not get overcharged by the agents/dealer.
It is essential for the consumers to know the difference between the maximum retail price and actual price of the goods. The maximum retail price is inclusive of all taxes and a retailer can sell at a price below the MRP. In fact consumers should always look for retailers who sell below the MRP because the MRP is the maximum retail price allowed for that commodity and not the actual price and a retailer can well reduce his margin built into the MRP. While on the other hand, the actual price could be about 10-15 per cent lower than the MRP. Sometimes the printed MRP is so high that the difference between the selling price and the MRP can be as much as 30-50 per cent. It is an offence to sell at a price higher than the marked price. Whereas the actual price could be about 10-15 per cent lower than the MRP.
I am yet to come across any package from any manufacturer ( Branded/ Defeated) bearing the cost of production on its product. Why Consumer Affair Ministry which spends crores on informing consumers through " Jago Grahak Jago" programmes are not highlighting this very imporant issue that not printing " Cost of Manufacturing " on a product is an offence and any consumer can take the manufacturer to the court of law. I wish to take a few eg WONDER CLEAN Brand Floor Cleaners, Mustard oil manufacturers, LAYS chips etc etc to the court on this issue . Can some one throw more light on this very important issue as our min of consumer affairs as always is with the Benias.
