MRP

See that overwritten MRP. See the original MRP 50/-

The prices of goods have gone higher than the highest mountain. And no, I'm not talking about Everest—I'm talking about the price of a packet of maggi. Shopkeepers are charging more than what's on the MRP like it's a suggestion box. They have liberties to fix their own prices. When asked about MRP, they would give you a hundred explanations, making you believe, and pay their fake prices. First, they'd start with the location of their shops ("Sir, this is Tingtibi, not Thimphu"). Then the price increase from their agents ("Our supplier now owns a second car"). Then transportation cost like fuel price increases, taxes, labor charges, tire charges, windshield charges, and whatever the hell else they can pull out of their ass. And somewhere, they'd even mention the salary hike of civil servants—because apparently, if I earn an extra Nu. 500 a month, I should happily pay Nu. 50 more for rice. They would somehow make you believe, and you come out paying and getting much-unwanted information. Like, I just wanted noodles, not a lecture on Bhutan's GDP.

And this is the case in many parts of our country. The government is trying to enforce customers to pay only MRP, and shopkeepers are trying to ask more than the MRP. It's basically a tug-of-war, and we—the customers—are the rope. The margin of the price from MRP has a huge difference. For example, they would increase by Nu. 15 from MRP or double it, just for the fun of watching you cry. I am one of the victims. In Zhemgang, Tingtibi, the prices are fixed by themselves. They erased and overwrite the MRP. It's like overwriting on banknotes—and only a fool would accept overwritten notes. But guess what? In Tingtibi, fools are in high demand. I had to pay Nu. 15 for a Nu. 12 packet of maggi. A 25% tax on my soul. Likewise, the prices of rice, oil, sugar, flour, biscuits, etc., are overwhelmingly fixed by them. I told them about MRP, only to get that unwanted information about their cousin's wedding expenses. And this is the same here in Tala. People have liberties to fix their own prices. Apparently, liberty in Bhutan means "fuck the customer."

And I don't know how prices are fixed about those perishable veggies. They have skyrocketed too. I have to pinch my skin. Not my wallet—my actual skin. Because after buying tomatoes, I can't afford to feel pain normally anymore.

Inflation has caused serious ripple effects to every civil servant. We have to minimize our diets. Civil servants are sandwiched in between the upper rung and lower rung of people. We are crushed in between to ooze blood from our parched, dried bodies. People try to extract as many as they can from this middle-income group. They don't sell, they don't produce, they depend, and they depend heavily on their meager salaries. Look at those shoppers—they cheat, they earn a lot. And then they have the audacity to complain about taxes.

So, our goods controller must strictly ensure people stop charging more than MRP, and levy fines on them. Big fines. Humiliating fines. Fines that make them think twice before erasing another price tag. If not, we have to pinch for these surprises. And honestly, my skin is running out of pinchable area.