From Jan 1 2018, you’ll pay as per the MRP for mineral water bottles at movie halls, airports

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If you’ve complaining about high price of mineral bottles at the movie theatres, the fleecing is going to stop from January next year.
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The Indian Government has asked companies not to sell mineral water bottles at higher MRPs at airports, malls and cinemas.

Under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, companies won’t be able to charge a higher MRP from Jan 01, 2018 onward.

"Based on the experience of implementation of the rules and after a detailed stakeholder consultation, the department has amended the rules, aimed at enhanced consumer protection, but at the same time balancing with the requirement of ease of doing business," a statement from consumer affairs department read.

There won’t be any dual MRPs on an identical pre-packaged commodity, which is going to benefit consumers at large.

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However, the rule won’t be applicable for restaurants.

"This won't be applicable to restaurants as under GST they come under the category of supplier services. And the latest notification is applicable for retail services where customer buy off the counter," said Rahul Singh, secretary, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).

Also, medical devices such as stents, valves, orthopaedic implants, syringes and tools for operations will have to display MRP.

"This is to raise awareness, because the customer has a right to know what the prices (of these medical devices are)," Jai Priye Prakash, secretary, department of pharmaceuticals (DoP), told ET.

So far, it was not mandatory for all medical devices declared as drugs to make mandatory declarations under the legal metrology rules. Some medical device manufacturers have welcomed the move.

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"Consumers were facing difficulty as devices were sold according to the paying capacity of the consumer. Even after capping of MRPs, many companies were not displaying (the MRP)," the department of consumer affairs said.


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