Kashvi Pathak picked up her usual bottle of hair oil in October 2025, sure it would be cheaper after the big GST 2.0 tax cut, but the shop charged the same old price. Here is the honest answer: you have a strong, working remedy if the shop charges you above the printed MRP, but you cannot force a shop to sell below the printed MRP, and the old anti profiteering complaint route no longer accepts new cases, so it will not help for GST 2.0.
GST 2.0 moved many everyday goods to lower slabs from 22 September 2025, cutting the two old slabs of 12 percent and 28 percent into a simpler 5 percent and 18 percent structure, with 40 percent kept only for luxury and sin goods. So the tax did fall on soaps, packaged food, small appliances and more. Whether your final price falls, and what you can do about it, depends entirely on your exact situation.
Match your case to one of the three rows below, then jump to that route. This saves you from chasing a complaint that cannot work.
| Your situation | What it really means | Where to go |
|---|---|---|
| The shop charges more than the printed MRP on the pack, old sticker or new | This is illegal overcharging | Route 1: Legal Metrology complaint, NCH 1915, or consumer commission on e-Jagriti |
| The printed MRP was never lowered after the cut, and you are charged that printed MRP | Reprinting a lower MRP is voluntary for the brand, not forced by law | Route 2: ask the brand, log it with NCH 1915, but no law forces a lower sticker |
| The price is at or below MRP but you feel the tax cut was not passed on | This is an anti profiteering or plain market matter | Route 3: no new anti profiteering complaint is possible for GST 2.0, read the honesty note |
As a quick checklist:
This is the clear win. Selling any pre packaged product above its printed MRP is an offence under the Legal Metrology Act 2009 and the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011. The MRP is the ceiling price. No shop may charge a rupee more, GST cut or not, and it does not matter whether the pack shows the old MRP or a new reduced MRP sticker.
What to do, in order:
For a full walk through of the above MRP complaint, see https://righttoinformation.wiki/legal-metrology-complaint-wrong-weight-above-mrp-overcharging-india
Here is where many shoppers get the law wrong. After GST 2.0, the government permitted brands to reprint a lower MRP on unsold stock, but it did not force them to.
Circular I-10/14/2020-W&M dated 18 September 2025 from the Department of Consumer Affairs lets manufacturers, packers and importers declare a revised, lower MRP on unsold pre packaged stock by stamping, sticker or online printing, up to 31 March 2026 or until the old packing material is used up, whichever is earlier. This was allowed under Rule 33 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011.
Two points decide your case:
So a pack made before 22 September 2025 can legally still carry the old, higher MRP, and the shop may sell it at that printed price. You cannot force a sticker onto it. What you can do:
This is the hardest situation, and you must know the 2026 legal position before acting. The tool that once forced businesses to pass on a GST cut was the anti profiteering mechanism under Section 171 of the CGST Act. It has been wound down. The functions moved first to the Competition Commission of India, then to the Principal Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal, which took over on 1 October 2024.
Crucially, the government notified 1 April 2025 as the sunset date for anti profiteering, after which the authority will not accept any new complaints or investigations. Only complaints filed before that date continue, and they are now decided by the GST Appellate Tribunal Principal Bench.
Because GST 2.0 took effect on 22 September 2025, which is months after that sunset, there is simply no anti profiteering complaint you can file about a GST 2.0 price that did not fall. Do not spend time chasing that route. It is closed for this rate cut.
If the shop is not charging above MRP, your real power here is your wallet, and the market. A brand that keeps a higher price at or below MRP is not breaking a live law, so switch to the brand that passed the cut on.
To understand the GST 2.0 slabs behind all of this, see https://righttoinformation.wiki/gst-2-0-new-tax-slabs-5-18-40-reform-2025-india
What is genuinely enforceable is overcharging above MRP. That is a real offence with a real complaint route, so that is where your energy should go.
Kashvi bought two packs. The first pack showed an MRP of ₹210 and the bill charged ₹230. That is above MRP, so she kept the bill and pack, called 1915, and filed a Legal Metrology complaint. The second pack showed the old MRP of ₹210 with no cut, and the bill charged exactly ₹210. That is not illegal, because reprinting a lower MRP is voluntary, so she simply switched to a freshly packed rival that already printed a lower price. One case had a remedy, the other did not, and knowing the difference saved her time.
To carry your consumer and RTI rights around in one place, keep a copy of The RTI Playbook.
Yes. From 22 September 2025, GST 2.0 collapsed the old 12 percent and 28 percent slabs into a simpler 5 percent and 18 percent structure, with 40 percent kept for luxury and sin goods. Many everyday items moved to a lower slab, so the tax on them fell.
That is illegal. Selling above the printed MRP is an offence under the Legal Metrology Act 2009. Keep the bill and pack, call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915, file a Legal Metrology complaint with your state department, and if you want your money back, file on e-Jagriti at https://e-jagriti.gov.in.
Usually no. The government only permitted brands to reprint a lower MRP on unsold stock by sticker or stamp up to 31 March 2026. It is voluntary. As long as the shop charges at or below the printed MRP, there is no offence, so switch brands or ask the maker to confirm the revised MRP.
No, not for GST 2.0. New anti profiteering complaints have not been accepted since the 1 April 2025 sunset date, which is before the 22 September 2025 GST 2.0 cut. Only cases filed before that sunset are still being decided, now by the GST Appellate Tribunal Principal Bench.
It is 1915. You can also dial 1800-11-4000 or use the portal at https://consumerhelpline.gov.in. It takes complaints in many Indian languages and forwards your grievance to the seller, and the reference it gives you is useful if you later go to a consumer commission.
Use the e-Jagriti portal at https://e-jagriti.gov.in, the successor to e-Daakhil. You register, pick your District, State or National commission, upload your complaint and bill, pay the fee online, and track the case. A step by step guide is at https://righttoinformation.wiki/how-to-file-consumer-forum-complaint-e-jagriti-dcdrc-india
For the printed MRP, yes, old stock made before 22 September 2025 can legally carry the old MRP, because re stickering is voluntary. But old stock is never an excuse to charge you above whatever MRP is printed on that pack. Above MRP is always an offence.
No live legal route exists for this after GST 2.0, since anti profiteering stopped taking new cases on 1 April 2025. Your practical remedy is to compare brands and buy the one that passed the cut on, and to report any shop that charges above MRP.