Packaged goods in India must carry a printed maximum retail price, the MRP. The government made it mandatory in 1990. Under Rule 18(2) of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, a seller may not charge more than the printed price. A seller may charge less.
“Retailers also enjoy the legal freedom to underprice a product, the government having fixed only the upper limit,” Outlook explained in 2022. Companies began quoting a lower market operating price as well, because “customers have always bargained on MRP and sought discounts.”