FSSAI is not the only regulator with opinions about your label. The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 — enforced by state Legal Metrology departments, not food safety officers — govern a separate set of declarations: the MRP, the net quantity, the dates, and who stands behind the pack. Violations are compoundable but real: packs get seized at distributor warehouses, and e-commerce listings get delisted for missing declarations.
Here is what LMPC requires on a retail pack, and where new brands trip up.
Every "pre-packaged commodity" sold at retail must carry, on the principal display panel or as permitted:
The rules prescribe minimum letter/numeral heights for declarations based on the net quantity of the pack (and larger minimums for the net quantity declaration itself). Directionally: tiny sachets get small minimums, but a standard 200 g–500 g retail pack needs its declarations in letters at least 2–4 mm high depending on the declaration. Designers working from an international template routinely set these too small — check heights at final print size, not on screen.
Nobody may sell above MRP. Not a kirana, not a hotel minibar (with narrow exceptions carved out over the years), not your own D2C site. Charging above the printed MRP is a straightforward offence.
Discounting below MRP is always fine. MRP is a ceiling, not a floor. Marketplace discounts, distributor schemes, and bundle pricing below MRP need no permission.
Dual MRP is prohibited. You cannot print different MRPs for the same SKU for different regions or channels on identical packs. If you want channel-specific pricing, create genuinely different SKUs (different net quantity or pack).
Revising a printed MRP is allowed only in limited circumstances — most commonly a statutory tax change, where the government notifies a window during which stickers with the revised MRP may be applied to existing stock (as happened after the September 2025 GST rate changes). Outside such windows, you cannot sticker over an MRP to raise it.
Rule 6(10) requires that for packs sold online, the mandatory declarations (except month/year of manufacture) be displayed on the product listing itself. This is why marketplaces demand label images and structured attribute data — and why a listing with "MRP: see image" gets flagged. If you sell D2C, put net quantity, MRP, manufacturer details, and consumer care contact in the product page copy, not just in a photo.
First offences are typically compounded with fines in the thousands of rupees, escalating for repeat violations — and the Act allows prosecution for persistent non-compliance. Practically, the more expensive consequences are commercial: seized stock at a distributor point, a modern-trade chain refusing a shipment at inwarding, or a marketplace delisting the ASIN during a compliance sweep. The cost of getting the pack right the first time is a fraction of one such incident.
Run your label through 20 FSSAI and declaration checks — including net quantity, dates, and address formats — before you print.
Open Label Compliance Checker →This article is general guidance, not legal advice. The rules are amended periodically and enforcement practice varies by state — have a regulatory consultant review final artwork before a production print run.