After fleecing customers for decades, shops at rly junction now sell at MRP

Coimbatore: Passengers visiting the railway junction here are in for a pleasant surprise over the past few days. All the shops and food outlets located inside the premises, which were selling goods at a cost exceeding maximum retail price (MRP), have started following the price norm.
"More than a relief, it was a surprise that these shopkeepers are following the MRP at the Coimbatore junction,'' said R Sampath, a businessman.Boards have also come up listing the MRP for each product in the shops.
"While snacks priced at 10 would be sold anywhere between 12 and 15, 200ml soft drinks priced at 8 used to be sold at 10 each," says Kamini Prakash, a regular traveller. "Biscuits would also be sold at 5 above the MRP," she says.
Like a majority of the catering stalls located in major bus stops, depots and tourists spots, stalls at many of the state's major railway stations were notorious for overcharging customers. However, now the licensed catering stalls in the junction sport a new look.
All the shops clearly mention the name under whom the license was procured from the Salem division of Southern Railways, their license number and a price list. The board clearly displays the price of the items prepared by IRCTC. "The shops have also been told to have complaint books with them, which customers can use to write a grievance. The books are reviewed once a week," said the Salem division spokesperson. "They have a system where they can't remove or tear out negative entries," he said.
Suresh (name changed), who runs a shop says they were forced to sell at a higher price as the profit margin on branded products was low. "We had to spend on transport and commissions to agents. Hence we hiked the price,'' he said. Shop-keepers have now resorted to lesser known brands or unbranded products which offer bigger profit margins.
While shops at Chennai Central and Egmore stations have been following the rules for the past few years, stations in other tier II cities and small towns had been flouting norms. "There have been complaints about stalls in many stations like Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai, Trichy and Coimbatore," said a spokesperson in the Southern Railways headquarters.