BERHAMPUR: Lawyers and consumer activists have protested against attempts of chemists and druggists' associations to impose printed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of medicines as `fixed price'.

Reacting to the recent statement by general secretary of the Utkal Chemists and Druggists Association that there could be no bargain on MRP of medicines, president of the Ganjam unit of Indian Association of Lawyers Sachi Mohanty said the association cannot impose MRP as the fixed price on customers. Any attempt to regulate the price and take away the right to bargain from customers was against public interest as well as right of consumers, he said.

Secretary of the association Nillu Pattajoshi criticised the State Health Department for not protecting the right of consumers.

Srikant Patnaik, former member of Ganjam District Consumer Court, said as per norms two types of pricing exist - horizontal and vertical. Vertical pricing alone allowed sale of goods at a stipulated price. As per the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, consumers had the right to choose products under horizontal price at lowest rate.

"Medicines come under horizontal pricing. But druggists' association is trying to treat it as a commodity under vertical pricing," Mr Patnaik said.

If medicine traders, through their association, tried to impose MRP of medicines as fixed price they would be creating an illegal monopolistic restrictive trade practice.

Consumer activist Bhagaban Sahu said usually customers fail to bargain because they never know the minimum retail price while the maximum price was printed on the pack, which the traders misuse.

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