Dual MRP banned, product details to be easily readable under new rules

From January 1 next year, you will not have to pay a higher price for a pack of snacks, soft drinks or water bottle at multiplexes, airports and malls as the government has prohibited dual maximum retail price (MRP) for same products.

The ministry of consumer affairs and food and public distribution brought in amendments to the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, on Thursday under which dual prices would be prohibited, unless allowed by law.

The rules also make it mandatory for all packaged commodities to have increased font size for “best before”, “date of manufacturing”, “name of producer”, etc to enable users to read them easily before consumption.

The ministry led by Ram Vilas Paswan also brought crucial medical devices such as stents, valve, orthopaedic implants, syringe and tools for operations under the drugs category, making it mandatory for producers to mention MRP on the devices.

Currently, these are sold without a standard pricing mechanism and according to the paying capacity of the customer despite a cap on their MRPs, which many companies were not displaying.

Provisions regarding declarations on food products have been harmonised with labelling regulations under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.

These amendments will be effective from January 1, 2018.

When asked why the amendments were being effected from next year instead of immediately, a senior ministry official said producers were being given a breathing period of six months to exhaust their current inventory.

The new rules also specify that the goods displayed by the sellers on e-commerce platforms shall contain details like name and address of the manufacturer, packer and importer, name of the commodity, net contents, retail sale price, consumer care complaint, dimensions, etc.

Bar code and QR coding has been allowed on voluntary basis.

MINISTRY ALSO GOT CRUCIAL MEDICAL DEVICES UNDER THE DRUGS CATEGORY, MAKING IT MANDATORY FOR PRODUCERS TO MENTION MRP ON THEM