Pepsi to sell bottled water at same MRP across India: Paswan.
Food Ministry’s push for the same maximum retail price (MRP) for packed food and beverages has led to Pepsi promising to sell its mineral water at one rate across the country.
Paswan said action can be taken under the law for having dual MRP on any product and consumer courts are already taking action.
“Dual MRP is against the law.
Pepsi has said that it will sell ‘Acquafina’ mineral water at one price or MRP across the country.
BCCI has also directed that all bottled water will be sold at MRP in its cricket stadiums,” he told reporters here.
The BCCI secretary has also issued a circular that bottled water will not be sold at price higher than the MRP, he said, adding that the ministry has started getting success after its effort against “dual MRP”.
Last month, the Consumer Affairs Department had sought explanation from companies selling packaged mineral water for having different MRPs of bottles for various places.
It had directed that the sale price should be same at airports, hotels and malls.
“Mineral water bottle will be available at the same rate at airports, hotels and malls,” Paswan had tweeted.

Sale of unhygienic bottled water goes on in Islamabad.
ISLAMABAD: It was shocking to note dozens of unhygienic bottled water brands being sold in the market openly while the department concerned failed to take action against the units producing unsafe water for drinking.
A number of factories were operating with an illegal brand name while many others were working with the fake titles of original companies.
Hospitals, bus stops, recreational places, kiosks etc are the main points where the fake or unregistered water bottled brands are being sold and causing diseases among the masses.
The PCRWR’s last three quarterly reports had declared 35 bottled brand as unsafe and unhygienic for human consumption during an analysis.
The monitoring report of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) for the quarter from October to December, 2016 had declared 11 bottled water brands unsafe due to chemical and microbiological contaminations, which include Well Care, Lite Aqua, New Premier, Royal Blue, Aqua Safe, Aqua Drink Water, Rahat, Oslo, NG Fresh Water, Nurturmil Water and Aab e Khoob).
According to PCRWR, out of the unsafe brands, seven brands: Well Care, Lite Aqua, New Premier, Royal Blue, Aqua Safe, Aqua Drink Water and Rahat) had comparatively high levels of Arsenic ranging from 12-34 ppb than the PSQCA water quality standard for arsenic (10 ppb).
The report revealed that only two brands were legal while the other nine were unregistered and working illegally.
A previous quarterly report of PCRWR dated July to September 2016 had declared the brands: Premier Fresh, Well Care, National, Siiz Cool, New ARBO, Cottage Foods Drink Water, Reliable, Pacific Pure, OAS Water and Aqua National as unsafe.
The PSQCA had sealed about 128 units during the last eight months, said DG PSQCA Khalid Siddique.

Recent reports about the presence of lead in some of the country’s drinking water and the health risks associated with it have created a spike in sales of bottled mineral water.
According to the StoreNext retail data firm, since TheMarker initially disclosed water-quality data from the Israel Standards Institution earlier this month, there has been an 11.8 percent increase in the sales of bottled mineral water.
This comes on the backdrop of what have already been steady increases in mineral water sales in the country – up by 0 percent since 2011 and by 5 percent in 2016 alone.
The major food retailers and smaller corner groceries alike have all been seeing similar increases in bottled water sales since the news about the lead in tap water; all the major mineral water brands have also been experiencing similar sales jumps since those reports broke.
StoreNext reported that sales of Neviot mineral water (a brand of the Central Bottling Company, the local Coca-Cola licensee) jumped 14.8 percent; Mei Eden sales have been up 11.6 percent; and sales of Jafora-Tabori’s Ein Gedi brand have risen 9.4 percent during the period from February 1 to 18.
News of tainted water followed the Health Ministry’s disclosure on January 18 that samples of water taken from espresso machines at some cafes had prompted concern about the presence of lead.
A report prepared by the Health Ministry in 2013 that was recently made public took issue with what had been the ministry position – that the presence of lead in lower concentrations than the maximum allowed amount was not dangerous.
"The main concern in such cases is harm caused by lead to the fetus’ developing nervous system, and studies have demonstrated that even [exposure to] very low concentrations [of lead] in pregnant women can cause damage to children’s intelligence and behavior.
Such exposure during pregnancy can also cause miscarriage and stillbirth,” he adds.
During the last three decades of the 20th century, studies showed that long-term effects of lead could ensue among children even after exposure to very small amounts of the substance that caused no symptoms initially.