A survey conducted by LocalCircles, which received over 16,000 responses from 244 districts of the country, highlighted 39% of consumers were charged more than MRP by retail stores during the lockdown.

Not only for essentials, but many complaints were also received about sanitizers and masks in the first two weeks of the lockdown. Another model that has become common since the lockdown is local traders and retailers taking orders on WhatsApp or via phone and then delivering the necessary supplies. According to consumers, in many such transactions, the receipt that is being furnished is not an actual receipt but a handwritten total on a piece of paper. This is one of the most common areas where charging over MRP has been reported.

On the contrary, most large e-commerce platforms have been complying with the Government’s orders of displaying MRP of all products on the websites/apps and cases of consumers being charged above MRP by sellers on these electronic platforms have not been reported frequently. When asked in the last 4 weeks of the lockdown period, were they or their family members charged more than MRP for a packaged item by an eCommerce platform. In this case, only 21% answered in a ‘yes’ while 54% answered in a ‘no’. 25% said they were unsure about it.

Consumers have highlighted cases where leading grocery apps, as well as food delivery apps, are also charging above MRP for certain products. The grocery app listed sanitizers at old prices and continued to sell them at that price despite the Government order to sell 100 ml sanitizer for 50 rupees.

Overall, the findings show that the percentage of retail stores that overcharged consumers during the lockdown was almost double of that of e-commerce apps.