Cases have been registered against the stall owners.

District collector Anil Mukim and DSO Ashok Singh said that the raids were conducted at the cinemas following representation from the Grahak Suraksha Mandal that caterers there were overcharging on branded items like soft drinks and biscuit and wafer packets.

A cold drink which usually cost Rs 8 or a wafer or chips packet which is available for Rs 10 (50 grams) everywhere cannot be sold for Rs 15/Rs 20 or Rs 40, respectively, Mukim said. Singh added that since the items seized during the raids had the Maximum Retail Price (MRP inclusive of all taxes) specified on their packets, the caterers were indulging in unlawful activities under the Gujarat Caterers and Establishment Act, 1975.

Singh added that various items worth Rs 1,968 were seized from Alpana Talkies, items worth Rs 1,550 from Apsara, Rs 2,563 from Vihar (all in the Pratapnagar area), Rs 14,391 from Pratap (Nyaya Mandir area) and Rs 4,300 from Sadhna (near Sursagar). Though the caterer's stall at the Aradhna (Salatwada) was also raided, the worth of the seized material was yet to be calculated.

Sources said teams from the DSO's office were scheduled to raid stalls and caterer's outlets at the Vadodara railway station and the bus stand against which they had received several complaints as well. Details were not available till the time of filing this report.

Interestingly, today's action met with a muted reaction from the affected industry. Jayaram Shetty, a senior member of the Vadodara Hotel Owners' Association, told Express Newsline that he had also encountered instances of stall-owners charging overly high prices. ``However, the administration must not act in haste and punish the businessmen for charging a bit more. At the same time, it should not spare businessmen charging very high prices'', he said.

Shetty also said the association would examine every aspect of the MRP laws and the quality of services provided by the caterers before officially lodging a protest.