The price of bottled mineral water sold at higher MRPs in malls, airports, cinema halls is likely to drop substantially. Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said that bottled water will soon be available at one rate in all places.
Bottled water at present is sold at different rates in restaurants, multiplexes, airports, etc. This variation in prices of the water has lead to lot of complains and anguish. The Government has clarified that it will not allow dual pricing for the same product and will ensure that the lower price of the product prevails.
“Bottled mineral water will soon be available at the same price in airports, hotels, malls, etc,” the Minister said on Twitter.
He added that the Consumer Forum under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is getting a large number of complaints about the variation in rates for the bottled drinking water, based on which his Ministry is taking such a step of regulating the price.
“It has been found from these complaints that companies have a separate price list for sale of these bottles at different places. The Ministry has sought an explanation from the bottled water selling companies for the reason behind such an act,” Paswan said.
He added that since the helpline numbers of these companies are linked to consumer forum they too are taking cognizance of the complaints.
The dual pricing continues despite several orders by the consumer courts that have made it clear that there cannot be two MRPs for the same product. In fact, in October last year, 134 retailers and establishments were booked in Maharashtra for overcharging consumers for bottled water, milk, cold drinks, snacks, etc, during several drives.