Rajesh Gupta demands PM to abolish MRP system

Jammu: J&K, National Democratic Party Indian (NDPI) J&K UT president, Rajesh Gupta on Friday in a statement said the MRP system has existed in India without being questioned for too long now. It is time to give free markets a chance. The fixed maximum retail price is an archaic and dysfunctional mechanism that hurts both retailers and the consumers it seeks to protect. Gupta urged and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi it is time to abolish the MRP system. Gupta further said while the intention to protect consumers in a pre-liberalized India can be lauded, continuing the system today does not make any sense. He said the practice of MRP in India is unique, archaic and dysfunctional. India is perhaps the only country in the world to have such a system, where it is punishable by law to charge a price higher than the printed maximum retail price. In most countries, the system of having a universally enforceable printed price is viewed as being akin to price-fixing and is thus prohibited as being anti-competitive.

NDPI Chief maintained that more often than not, the rule of MRP is breached rather than honored. First, the MRP applies only to commodities and not services. Second, most essential commodities are not packaged and, thus, do not fall under the MRP rule. Fruits, vegetables, rice, pulses, and so on are always sold ‘loose’ and the retailer thus has the freedom to choose the price, based on his costs and the demand and supply for those commodities. Third, even packaged commodities are not usually sold at MRP.

Rajesh Gupta emphasized that It is not uncommon to pay a price much higher than the MRP in movie theatres, high-end restaurants, tourist locations, airports and railway stations. Fourth, many shops charge for ‘services’ that are not covered by the MRP, for instance, you often have to pay a premium, a ‘cooling charge’, when you buy cold bottled water or soft drinks. Fifth, producers sometimes print an MRP so ridiculously high that the product can be sold at an actual price that is up to 90 percent discounted, thereby making the printed MRP redundant in its ability to signal value. Firecrackers and automobile spare parts are the most obvious example of this.