 bill no 34 of 2009 the consumer goods (mandatory printing of cost of production and maximum retail price) bill, 2009 by shri hansraj gangaramji ahir, mp a billto provide for printing of cost of production and maximum retail price of consumer goods being sold in the market and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixtieth year of the republic of india as follows:— 1 (1) this act may be called the consumer goods (mandatory printing of cost of production and maximum retail price) act, 2009short title, extent and application(2) it extends to the whole of india5(3) it shall apply to all persons involved in marketing or manufacturing of goods based on either indigenous or imported materials with   intention of offering it for sale in the market2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) "appropriate government" means the central government or a state government as the case may be;10(b) "consumer goods" means all goods and items brought in the market for saleand are meant for the use and consumption of the consumers;(c) "cost of production" means cost incurred directly or indirectly by themanufacturer in the production of goods;(d) "maximum retail price" means such price at which the product shall be sold in retail and such price shall include all taxes levied on the product;(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and5(f) "printing" means printing of the cost of production and retail price at a visible place on the product in hindi and english and the local language of the place it is sold 3 no person shall sell or cause to be sold any consumer goods without the cost of production and maximum retail price of the product printed on such product after the expiry of six months from the date of coming into force of this actmandatory printing of cost of production and maximum retail price on packaging of consumer goods104 (1) any person may file a complaint with the appropriate government in case a consumer goods  is sold at more than the maximum retail price printed on the product or is sold without the cost of production of the product printed on it(2) the appropriate government, on receipt of the complaint from any individual or on its own, shall cause an enquiry made into the complaint15provision of complaint against selling of consumer goods for a price more than maximum retail price, etc(3) if, after the enquiry made under sub-section (2), it is found that the provisions of the act have been violated, the license of the organization responsible for manufacturing the consumer goods as also of the organization selling the consumer goods shall be cancelled forthwith and the person-in-charge of the organization shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year and with fine which shall not be less than rupees one lakh20 5 the provision of this act shall be given wide publicity by the appropriate government through such media as it may deem fitact to be given wide publicity6 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of any other law, for the time being in force, relating to matters provided in this actact not in derogation of any other law25power tomake rules7 (1) the central government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act30(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsit is generally seen that the prices of consumer goods sold in the markets are determined arbitrarily by the manufacturers in this process, the manufacturers gain huge profit as the actual manufacturing cost is very low the consumers' interests are compromised and they are compelled to buy goods at much higher prices in comparison to actual manufacturing cost of goods thus, consumers are subjected to economic exploitationfor example, potato chips, drinking water, soft drinks, automobiles, medicines, etc are being sold at a price much higher than their cost price the manufacturers arbitrarily fix the price and the consumers are compelled to purchase goods at higher costs if it is made mandatory for the manufacturers to print the actual cost of production of goods alongwith their maximum retail price it will help to curb the greed of the manufacturers such a measure will also help the consumers in making a decision regarding buying the productit is the duty of the government to bring a legislation for protecting the interests of consumers in the wake of economic liberalisation, it has become essential that the consumers are given the right to know the actual manufacturing cost of the goods they are going to purchaseit is also in the public interest to make commodities and goods available at fair prices to consumers the interests of consumers can be protected against the vice of profiteering by making the goods and commodities available to them at a reasonable pricehence the billnew delhi;hansraj  gangaramji  ahirjune 22, 2009 financial  memorandumclause 5 of the bill provides that appropriate government shall give wide publicity to the provisions of this actthe bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india the state governments will also incur expenditure from their respective consolidated funds an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees twenty-five crore is likely to be incurred from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of about rupees five crore is also likely to be incurred memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 7 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of detail only and as such the delegation of  legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for printing of cost of production and maximum retail price of consumer goods being sold in the market and for matters connected therewith————(shri hansraj gangaramji ahir, mp)gmgipmrnd—2387ls(s-5)—02072009