What Is Maximum Retail Price (MRP)?
Every packet on an Indian shop shelf has a printed price. That price is a ceiling, not the price you must charge.
Maximum retail price (MRP) is the highest price at which a packaged product can be sold to a buyer in India, with all taxes included. The maker, packer or importer prints it on the pack under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011. A shop can sell at or below it, but never above.
What the MRP Rules Say
Rule 18(2) of the 2011 Rules is blunt. No one may sell a packaged item above its printed price: not the shop, not the wholesaler and not the maker. State controllers of the Legal Metrology department enforce it. Four details trip people up:
- Tax is inside it. The printed price includes all taxes. Since April 2022, most packs also show a unit sale price, such as per kg or per litre.
- One product, one MRP. Since 1 January 2018, a maker cannot print a higher price on an identical pack meant for an airport or a cinema.
- Not every pack is covered. Loose goods weighed at the counter are outside the rules. So are packs above 25 kg or 25 litres, except cement and fertiliser in bags of up to 50 kg, which stay covered.
- A tax change moves the ceiling. Under Rule 18(3), once the tax on a packed item changes, a shop cannot sell above the new price the maker sends out.
When GST rates changed on 22 September 2025, makers could, for a short window, sticker the new price on unsold stock if the old price stayed visible.
MRP vs Selling Price
The printed number and the billed number are allowed to differ, in one direction only.
| Aspect | MRP | Selling price |
|---|---|---|
| Set by | Maker or packer | The shop |
| Can change | Only by the maker | At the counter |
| Limit | It is the limit | At or below MRP |
| GST base | No | Yes |
GST is charged on what the customer pays. Sell below the printed price and the tax gets smaller too.
Maximum Retail Price Example
A grocery store in Gwalior’s Lashkar area stocks a 1 kg pack in the 5% GST slab with an MRP of Rs.189. During a Diwali offer, its grocery billing counter rings the pack up at Rs.172.
| Line | At MRP | At offer price |
|---|---|---|
| Bill total | Rs.189.00 | Rs.172.00 |
| Taxable | Rs.180.00 | Rs.163.81 |
| GST at 5% | Rs.9.00 | Rs.8.19 |
| Allowed? | Yes | Yes |
Note: this is an invented example for illustration only. Check the GST rate for your own item’s HSN code before billing.
To find the tax inside a price, divide it by 1.05 (or by 1.18 at 18%), or use our reverse GST calculator. Billing Rs.195 would break the rule, even by six rupees.
Where Restaurants Stand on MRP
In December 2017 the Supreme Court set a different rule for restaurants. In the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India case, the court said serving a bottle of water at a table is a service, not a simple sale. So the price cap does not apply there.
That ruling rests on table service. A kirana store selling a sealed pack is a plain retail sale, so the cap applies in full.
A restaurant that also keeps a shelf of sealed chips, juices and water near the door for takeaway is closer to a shop than to table service, so billing those packs within the printed price is probably the safer choice. Our price list management glossary covers the case.
Get the GST Right on Every MRP Sale
Getting an MRP sale right means two things: the bill stays at or below the price on the pack, and the GST inside it is worked out on what the customer actually pays. Across the retail counters we work with at Petpooja, both come from the billing system’s item list, so every change to a pack’s maximum retail price has to be made there.
For retail businesses, Petpooja Invoice gives accurate GST calculations on every invoice generated, with a detailed breakdown of tax components. It also offers barcode scanning to reduce manual data entry, and Pricelist Management. A retail store billing SOP checklist covers the counter routine.
Scan five items from your top shelf today and check each billed price against the pack.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Rule 18(2) stops any shop or wholesaler from selling a packaged item above the price printed on it. A buyer can complain to the state Legal Metrology office or call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915.
Every rupee of GST is already inside it. A shop cannot add tax on top of the printed price, and the tax is worked out on what the customer actually pays. Our glossary on automated GST calculation shows how it is split out.
It depends on how they are sold. Rice weighed out at the counter is not a pre-packaged item, so it needs no MRP. The same rice sealed in a labelled pack for sale must carry one.
In manufacturing, yes, but there it means planning how much raw material to buy and when to make goods. On a bill in India, MRP means maximum retail price.
