Srinagar, Sept. 29 -- Maximum Retail Price (MRP) was introduced in India in 1990 through an amendment to the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1976 by the Ministry of Civil Supplies. MRP was primarily introduced as a consumer protection mechanism to prevent exploitation in markets with fragmented supply chains by

It also provides governments with a clear, uniform baseline to calculate indirect taxes (like GST) at the manufacturing level rather than trying to track varying retail prices across millions of stores.

While designed to protect consumers, manufacturers and retailers use MRP as a highly strategic pricing and psychological tool to cheat the customers, at large.

Manufacturers frequently set an artif...