vijayawada as consumerism reaches new heights in the capital region thanks to growing purchasing power and unbridled cash flow retailers and shopkeepers have started selling products over and above the maximum retail price mrp in violation of the rules though officials claim that they are keeping a watch on vendors consumers are bearing the brunt of this latest trend in the city this has assumed alarming proportions in singlescreen theatres where outlets quote double the price on all products though they are not supposed to charge more than the mrp shopkeepers flout the rules with impunity mrp of a soft drink can is rs 30 but its sold at rs 5060 in theatres water bottles and packaged items are sold at double the mrp theatre managements hardly pay heed to our complaints about the spiralling rates n srinivasa sarma of arundalpet rued the reasons the shopkeepers cite are ridiculous sample this we incur charges to keep soft drinks cool in theatres we have maintenance and employment costs also a shopkeeper in alankar theatre says as per the packaged commodities regulations everything from grocery items which are consumed on a daily basis to electronic gadgets to cosmetics come with a price decided by the manufacturer after factoring in all the investments he made but with the consumers keeping quiet retailers are having a field day so much so mobile recharge shops which sell topup cards are asking users to shell out extra money even if we lodge a complaint with officials there will be no action on the vendors who are in cahoots with officials said k satish varma a software professional consumers blame it on laxity on the part of the regulatory body for the shopkeepers brazen ways shopkeepers add all and sundry to the bill when i questioned a vendor about a bill recently he said that it was convenience charge as he had to bring all the items from the wholesale market there are no checks by the officials sobha lakshmi of veterinary colony lamented when contacted legal metrology department officials said that no outlet is allowed to charge a paisa more than the mrp charging extra is clear violation of the regulations we slapped some shops with notices and are prosecuting some theatres for overcharging consumers said bhanu prasad inspector of legal metrology according to him consumers can file a complaint against vendors and the department will act on the complaint by jayanth p tnn published on aug 19 2015 at 0314 pm ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert our moderators to take actions reasons for reporting foul language defamatory inciting hatred against a certain community out of context spam others report join the community of 2m industry professionals subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights analysis download etretail