In the wake of the scarcity of urea fertilizer and the subsequent hoarding of the chemical in the district, officers of the Legal Metrology swung into action and conducted a series of raids in the last 10 days in which seven cases were booked and ₹95,000 as penalties was collected.
Assistant Controller N. Swamy and Inspector Mohammed Ghouse, the only two officers in the department for the district, said that the cases pertained to selling the product above the Maximum Retail Price. In view of the pandemic, several retailers, mainly of groceries, resorted to selling of kirana items at exorbitant prices, said Mr. Swamy.
Oil pulses, among other items, were hoarded at several places in the district - mainly in Kalyandurg, Kuderu, Rayalacheruvu, and Madakasira. From April 1 to July 31, the officers booked 429 cases and collected ₹30,54,500 in penalties.
‘No mention of MRP’
In yet another trend associated with the pandemic, they saw that oxymeters, sanitisers, handwash and other such packaged products were being sold without mention of some of the key components of packaged items, including mention of consumer care Number, e-Mail, Address, telephone numbers, and if imported, the country of origin, etc. While some products did not have any mention of the name and address of the manufacturers, net quantity details and year of manufacture, in the majority of the cases, the MRP with all taxes was missing.
A medical shop in Penukonda has been booked, but compounding has not yet been done, said Mr. Ghouse. Seventy percent of the cases booked in the four months were related to essential commodities.
Meanwhile, the Legal Metrology team in Kurnool comprising Assistant Controller and Inspector, along with the civil supplies team, conducted inspections on kirana, cooldrink and medical shops in the city. They registered seven cases against violators.
While three of them were related to charging of excess price on cool drinks, four were for violation of packaged commodities rules. On Thursday, the Legal Metrology Department collected ₹11,000 in penalties.
