# What is minimum advertised price (MAP), and how does it work in India?

Minimum advertised price (MAP) is a brand's own policy on the lowest price a reseller may advertise for a product. It is common in the United States. In India the price printed on every pack is the MRP, the most a shopper can be charged, so brands mostly check depth below MRP and price parity.

The short definition: The lowest advertised price a brand allows its resellers to show, also called MAP pricing or a MAP policy. It limits the advertised price, not always the final price at checkout.

Part of the topic: [Guide: discount depth and price against MRP](https://rewalto.com/guides/discount-depth)

## What minimum advertised price means

A brand sets a lowest advertised price for a product and asks resellers not to show a lower one in ads or listings. It is a private policy, not a law, and it is usually enforced through the brand's own terms with its resellers. The rule covers the price a reseller shows, so a shopper can still pay less once a checkout offer applies.

A MAP is written for one product or a range, and it names the price, the places it applies to and what the brand does when a reseller shows less.

## MAP, MRP, selling price and price floor: the difference

Four prices are easy to mix up, and each one is set by someone different.

MAP is a floor set by the brand. MRP is a ceiling printed on the pack.

| Price | Who sets it | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| MAP | The brand | A brand policy: a floor on the price a reseller may advertise. |
| MRP | The brand, printed on the pack | The most a shopper can be charged in India, including all taxes. |
| Selling price | The app or seller | What the app or seller charges today, after its own discount. |
| Internal price floor | The brand | A line the brand watches against its own policy, often not published. |

## How it shows up in India

Quick commerce apps and marketplaces set their own discounts, often by city and sometimes by store, and bank or card offers apply at checkout. So Indian brand teams usually talk about depth below MRP and price parity across apps and pin codes, not MAP.

Indian competition law lists resale price maintenance, an agreement that resellers must sell at the price the supplier sets unless lower prices are clearly allowed, among agreements that can break the Competition Act, 2002 when they cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition (section 3(4)(e)). Take legal advice before you restrict a reseller's price.

Source: [The Competition Act, 2002, from the Competition Commission of India](https://www.cci.gov.in/images/legalframeworkact/en/the-competition-act-20021652103427.pdf)

## What a brand can check instead

Each of these checks needs the date, the pin code and the page the price came from.

- Depth below MRP: how far under the MRP each app sells, by app and pin code.
- Price parity: whether the same pack costs the same across apps, and across pin codes inside one app.
- Price over time: so a price cut can be compared with the lowest price of the previous 30 days.
- A dated source: keep the page address and time for any price you raise with a retailer.

## A worked example, with invented numbers

Invented numbers. A shampoo has an MRP of 400. The brand's internal floor is 340. App A lists it at 352, App B at 330 and the brand's own site at 360.

App B is 10 below the floor. App A and the site are above it, and all three are under the MRP. Before you raise it, check the pack size, the date and the pin code, and whether a checkout offer changed the price.

## Common mistakes

- Treating the MRP as a minimum. It is the most a shopper can be charged.
- Comparing different pack sizes, such as a 180 ml bottle on one app with a 340 ml bottle on another.
- Comparing a sale-day price on one app with an ordinary day on another.
- Reading a checkout coupon as the listed price.
- Treating a missing MRP as zero, which makes a price look above the MRP when it is not.

## What Rewalto reads

The live status, sources and last reading of each dataset are on the [data catalogue](https://rewalto.com/data).

## Do not confuse with

- [MRP](https://rewalto.com/glossary/quick-commerce/mrp): MAP is a floor set by the brand on the advertised price. MRP is printed on the pack and is the most a shopper can be charged.
- [Selling price](https://rewalto.com/glossary/quick-commerce/selling-price): The selling price is what an app or seller charges today. MAP only limits how low that price may be advertised.
- [Price parity](https://rewalto.com/glossary/ecommerce/price-parity): Price parity is the same price across apps and pin codes. Prices can all sit above a MAP and still differ.
- Resale price maintenance: An agreement that resellers must sell at the price the supplier sets, unless lower prices are clearly allowed, as the Competition Act, 2002 describes it. MAP only limits the advertised price.

## What Rewalto does not measure

Rewalto does not set or enforce a MAP, and it has no price-floor rule or violation list. Seller names, and which seller holds a listing's main offer, are planned and not built. What it does read is the selling price and MRP by app and pin code, each with its date and source.

[See what Rewalto does read](https://rewalto.com/solutions/map-monitoring)

Published 12 November 2026.

## Questions people ask

### What does minimum advertised price mean?

The lowest price a brand allows its resellers to advertise for a product. It is the brand's own policy, not a law.

### Is MAP the same as MRP?

No. MAP is a floor set by the brand on the advertised price. MRP is printed on the pack in India and is the most a shopper can be charged.

### Is minimum advertised pricing used in India?

Less often than in the United States. Indian brands usually check depth below MRP and price parity across apps and pin codes. Take legal advice before restricting a reseller's price, because Indian competition law covers resale price maintenance.

### What is the difference between MAP and resale price maintenance?

MAP limits the price a reseller advertises. Resale price maintenance, as the Competition Act, 2002 describes it, is a restriction that resellers must sell at the price the supplier sets unless lower prices are clearly allowed.

### Does Rewalto monitor MAP?

Rewalto reads selling price and MRP by app and pin code with the date and source. It does not set or enforce a MAP and has no price-floor rule or violation list today.

## Related

- [The e-commerce glossary](https://rewalto.com/glossary/ecommerce)
- [Guide: discount depth and price against MRP](https://rewalto.com/guides/discount-depth)
- [What is mrp?](https://rewalto.com/glossary/quick-commerce/mrp)
- [What is selling price?](https://rewalto.com/glossary/quick-commerce/selling-price)
- [What is discount depth?](https://rewalto.com/glossary/quick-commerce/discount-depth)
- [What is price gap?](https://rewalto.com/glossary/quick-commerce/price-gap)
- [What is price parity?](https://rewalto.com/glossary/ecommerce/price-parity)
- [MAP monitoring in India](https://rewalto.com/solutions/map-monitoring)
- [Price parity data](https://rewalto.com/data/commerce/price-parity)
- [Guide: same product, different price across apps](https://rewalto.com/guides/same-product-different-price-across-apps)
- [Guide: price consistency across dark stores](https://rewalto.com/guides/price-consistency-across-dark-stores)
- [Guide: the lowest price of the previous 30 days](https://rewalto.com/guides/30-day-prior-price-proof)

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Last content change: 2026-11-12