Liquor store owner booked for charging above MRP

HyYDERABAD: Legal metrology sleuths conducted a decoy operation at a liquor store in Kukatpally on Wednesday and registered a case against the shop owner for selling whisky at a higher price.
Medchal district legal metrology inspector B Karunakar Reddy conducted the operation at Ms Sai Teja Wines at Kukatpally on Wednesday posing as a customer.
When the inspector wanted to purchase a bottle of Antiquity whiskey, the staffer, Satyanarayan Goud, asked him to pay `1,070.“The MRP mentioned on the bottle was `940 and when I questioned the staff about the additional charge, he showed me a printout containing the revised rate of various brands,“ Reddy told TOI.
The inspector found that the liquor store staff had prepared their own revised rates to dupe customers by charging an additional amount.
The inspector seized the bottle and registered a case against the license holder Sai Tej Goud and the counter staff Satyanarayan Goud under the Legal Metrology Act. Overpricing at liquor shops is a common problem, especially on the city outskirts, where the supervision of Excise and Legal Metrology officials is not thorough. “Certain shops in Alwal and Hayathnagar areas down the shutter 10 minutes before the permitted time and charge `20 extra on every bottle,“ said A Kiran, a private employee from Dilsukhnagar.