Officials of the Legal Metrology, Vigilance and Enforcement, Food Safety, and Civil Supplies departments have booked 930 cases against traders for allegedly selling edible oils at high prices and keeping stocks illegally.
“The raids have been conducted in the last 15 days. Surprise checks have been conducted at 1,890 places in the State,” said Director General (Vigilance and Enforcement) Sankhabrata Bagchi.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, he said 59 cases were booked under Section 6A of the Essential Commodities Act for maintaining excess stocks; 889 cases under various provisions of the Legal Metrology (LM) Act, 2009; LM Package Commodities Rules, 2011, for selling oils at high prices; and 38 cases under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, for selling stocks without possessing licence.
‘Duplicate brands’
Several criminal cases were registered against the traders for selling local brands in the name of reputed brands, the DG said.
“In all, the officials have seized about 1,660 tonnes of stocks worth about ₹29 crore. More than 100 teams are taking part in the inspections, and the joint raids will continue,” Mr. Bagchi said.
V&E Director Shemushi Bajpai, who is monitoring the raids, said 15 cases were booked in Ongole, 10 in East Godavari, nine in Guntur, six in West Godavari, four each in Nellore and Kurnool, three in Visakhapatnam, and two each in Ananthapur, Kadapa and Krishna districts.
“The government is proposing to bind over habitual offenders who are resorting to duplicating edible oils, hoarding, and selling oils in the black market. We have seized several brands of oils and new stocks,” the DG said.
“People can lodge complaints related to V&E through WhatsApp No. 9440906254,” he added.
