AMN
The Supreme Court Tuesday said that Hotels and restaurants were not bound by maximum retail price (MRP) in selling bottled water.
The Apex Court rejected Centre’s stand saying hotels can’t be prosecuted for selling mineral water above MRP.
Centre had submitted that selling bottled mineral water above the MRP will attract monetary penalty and jail term for the management of restaurants, hotels, multiplexes.
The court noted that composite elements of sale and service are there in hotels and restaurants where consumers also enjoy the ambience, invested into by these commercial establishments.
A bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman observed that it was not a case of a simple sale, saying nobody goes to the hotel to buy or take away a bottle of mineral water.
The Apex Court was hearing a petition filed by the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) against Delhi High Court ruling.