Water at MRP: Unfair or a right in a capitalist society?

The Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs recently conducted raids on 182 city restaurants, multiplexes and malls to check if bottles of mineral water were being sold at MRP or not. Of these, 46 outlets were found to be charging more and were fined Rs 2,000, apart from a case being registered against them. Speaking about the raid, Harsh Gupta, secretary, Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, says, “According to the packaged commodity rule and a Government of India circular that was issued in 2016, dual MRP is an unfair trade practice. Rules are currently being formulated to execute it. Water is an essential commodity and one cannot charge over and above the MRP, especially when you are not adding value to it and selling it as is. During the raids, the team also found that some multiplexes did not allow people to carry water, while over-charging for the same. This is not only illegal, but unfair from a humanitarian point of view.”
We tried speaking to several restaurant owners to get their point of view, but most of them refused to comment on the issue. However, chef and restaurateur Abhijit Saha was vocal. He said, “I am not clear about the judgment. I have a copy of a 2009 Supreme Court order, which states that restaurants and hotels can charge above the MRP of a bottle of water because of the ambience that is provided and the overhead costs involved. If the law restricts us from charging more, then we will not. But the law must be clear and we must be given a copy stating that, instead of us having to know about it from newspapers.”
Having said that, Abhijit feels that it is unfair to ask restaurants to charge cost-price for bottled water since they anyway offer regular water for free. “When a person prefers bottled water even when regular water is available, he/she is making a choice to pay more to buy a premium item. We are not forcing them to do this. We even import bottles that might have a cheaper MRP printed on them, but we pay extra for importing it. What do they expect us to do then?” he asks.
Commenting on restaurants providing regular water for free and the SC ruling, Harsh says, “Most restaurants give tap water, which is not safe, so a consumer cannot be dependent on the sympathy of the establishment. Our raid was undertaken to ensure that consumers aren’t harassed. As for the SC ruling, the case, as far as I know, was of dynamic pricing, and the judgment was on a different scenario. Also, the spirit of law is more important than a letter of law.”
Financial advisor Hemant Patni, who eats out at least thrice a week, is happy with the decision. “Water is a necessity and one cannot charge extra for it. We cannot trust the source of the regular water served in restaurants. Eateries charge exorbitantly for other items on the menu, so they should not do the same with water. I paid `80 for a bottle of water at a popular gaming zone on MG Road over the weekend. How is that fair?”
Food blogger Raina Kshetry says that restaurants might start using innovating methods to charge extra for a bottle of water. “In multiplexes, cafés and fast food chains, the price of a `10 bottle is printed as `50 on the bottle. After this ruling, restaurants might start doing the same.”