In Brief
A hotel and restaurant association challenged regulatory action for charging more than the printed maximum retail price (MRP) for bottled water. The Supreme Court held that the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 and the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 do not apply to composite service contracts in hotels/restaurants. Although water bottles are pre-packaged, the dominant transaction is the provision of hotel/restaurant services, with the water sale being merely incidental. Parliament did not amend the definition of "sale" in these Acts despite a 1982 Constitutional amendment, signalling intent not to cover service transactions. Therefore, hotels may charge above MRP for water supplied as part of their service offering.
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