A member of Parliament has attempted to do, through a private member’s bill, what the government could not or would not do: make it mandatory for manufacturers to print on all packages not just the maximum retail price, but also the cost of production.

Called the Consumer Goods (mandatory printing of cost of production and maximum retail price) Bill, 2006, the bill, (57 of 2006) introduced in the Lok Sabha by Hansraj Gangaramji Ahir on April 27, says that “no person shall sell or cause to be sold, any consumer goods without the cost of production and maximum retail price of the product printed on such product after the expiry of six months from the date of coming into force of this Act”.

Says the MP, in the Statement of Objects and Reasons accompanying the Bill: “It is the duty of the government to bring a legislation for protecting the interests of consumers. In the wake of economic liberalisation, it has become essential that the consumers are given the right to know the actual manufacturing cost of the goods they are going to purchase.”

Unfortunately for consumers, this is not a bill introduced by the government, but by an MP as a private member’s bill. And such bills generally never get passed by Parliament to become a law. However, usually, when an MP introduces a bill as a private member’s bill, he or she draws the attention of the government to the need for such a law and the government may well bring the necessary amendment on the lines of the bill introduced by the private member. So one hopes that this particular bill too will serve that purpose and force the government to act.

For a number of years consumer groups have been demanding that the manufacturers print not just the maximum retail price, but also the ex-factory price. The logic being that the ex-factory price will introduce transparency in the pricing of goods, while at the same time preventing printing of inflated MRPs by manufacturers.

Manufacturers, of course, are vehemently opposed to this. In fact the Union ministry of consumer affairs constituted several committees to discuss the issue and in all these committees, barring the representatives of manufacturers, all others felt that printing the ex-factory price is the best solution to the problem of inflated MRPs being marked on certain goods by manufacturers.

Now, marking the maximum retail price, inclusive of all taxes, is mandatory under the Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules. And if the manufacturers have to print the ex-factory price too, these rules have to be amended. However, on account of the resistance from the manufacturers’ lobby, the government has not done it.