Fridge is 'packaged commodity' says SC

The Supreme Court has ruled that refrigerators are 'packaged commodities' and therefore they should display the maximum retail price under the Standards  of Weights and Measures Act.

Whirlpool of India had argued that its refrigerators are not sold in packaged form and the dealers display them in shops without any packaging so that the customers could examine them.

Rejecting this contention, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhan said that refrigerators are packed in polythene cover, thermocol and placed in hard board cartons. Therefore, they are packaged commodities.

The manufacturer then argued that MRP would be different in different places depending upon the area where they are sold.

The Supreme Court stated that even in that case, the manufacturer has the liability to display the retail price. The central government had issued a notification in March 000 under the Central Excise Act specifying the goods which should be valued for central excise. Even according to that notification, refrigerators would fall in the category of packaged goods, according to the Supreme Court.