Single brands being exempted from marking MRPs to push down prices

Single-brand retailers — including, Ikea, Fabindia, Decathlon, H&M and several chains of Future Group — have been exempted from marking the maximum retail price on their products. This may help bring down prices for consumers. Marking MRPs on individual products increases the production cost that is eventually borne by the consumer.

Instead retail sale prices of the products in a store will be displayed through labels fixed on the racks. Additionally, the prepackaged commodities for sale shall contain bar codes on the principal display panel, which will show the retail sale prices by using the scanners available across the store. Removing the MRP requirement on label for packaged products is seen as a positive step toward establishing modern retail practices and allowing a more integrated way to communicate price in a multichannel environment.

The new order on labeling norms also specifies that once a pre-packaged product is imported or packaged within the country, its retail sale price shall not be escalated upwards during its life cycle. India is one of the few countries that follows the practice of mentioning MRP. A store in a posh locality with higher rentals can charge more for a product compared with a store in a rural area. Currently, companies hedge the overall production cost and calculate an average as MRPs.