Hyderabad: The overpricing of a product beyond MRP has proved costly for those involved, as the legal metrology department had already collected Rs 19.23 lakh in fines this year. The department has tightened its grip after the government ordered it to crackdown on those overcharging customers.
Accordingly, the officials have booked over 1,123 cases in the city. “The problem has been resolved upto 90 per cent, but still some retailers tend to overcharge on the MRP. We hold sudden checks to nab these offenders as it is illegal to overcharge,” says N Balaram, deputy controller at Legal Metrology.
The dual MRP is mostly seen to happen on institutional packaging where retailers give manufacturers orders for producing products on higher rates. “There is a lacuna in the Act and the legal metrology can presently not check on this as manufacturers can do it legally,” says P.S.R.N.T. Swami, assistant controller at Legal Metrology.
He adds that a revision in the Act is slated and from January 2018, the offence could be nipped at the manufacturing level.
