By MADHU AGRAWAL
Largest-selling foreign company Hewlett-Packard (HP) marketing computer-printers in the Indian market has Maximum-Retail-Price printed on ink-cartridges exorbitantly high even though its original cartridges available in wholesale markets of Nehru place and Nai Sarak in Delhi at much-much less than printed MRP.
Even wholesale price for its ink-cartridges remains much higher around rupees 3000 making some Indian manufacturers marketing re-filled cartridges at around rupees 700 or so. Even re-fill can be done at just rupees 200 or so. But using re-filled ink-cartridges result in termination of warranty.
Condition should be imposed to allow manufacture of ink-cartridges in India by desiring Indian companies. Indian companies should also be authorised refill ink-cartridges without affecting warranty of printers. Maximum trade margin between ex-factory or import price and printed MRP should be fixed also to check bribing due to abnormally high printed MRP. Any foreign company selling its products manufactured in country other than that of the company, should be asked to set up its manufacturing unit in India like was done by Samsung to set up biggest unit for mobile-phones in the world in Noida (UP-India).
Bureau of Indian Standards BIS should call meeting of printer-manufacturers including representatives of foreign companies to minimise types of ink-cartridges. Presently HP has too many types of ink-cartridges of similar shape and size for their vast range of inkjet and laser printers. It is not difficult to standardise so many ink-cartridges in a limited number to be used uniformly in different models of inkjet and laser printers. Such standardisation will heavily bring down cost of ink-cartridges.