 bill  no  xlii of  2008 the control of rising prices bill, 2008 a billto provide for the deterrent measures for the control of consistently rising prices of essential commodities particularly of foodgrains, pulses, edible oils, fruits and vegetable and items of daily use which have adversely affected the commonman and for prevention of hoarding, profiteering and determination of prices of all consumer goods by the appropriate government to give the desired relief to the commonman and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the control of rising prices act, 2008(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement5(3) it shall come into force with immediate effect2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) ''appropriate government'' means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in other cases, the central government;(b) ''consumer goods'' include all essential commodities of daily use of consumers including wheat and wheat products mainly flour, rice and other cereals, pulses and beans, edible oils, ghee including desi and vanaspati, sugar and jaggery, salt, soaps and detergents but does not include seasonal vegetables and fruits;5(c) ''dealer'' means any person, by whatever name known or called, who carries on the business of selling any consumer good or goods in any manner;10(d) ''hoarding'' means accumulating consumer goods and their stocks meant for sale to the general public with a view to conering such goods and stocks so as to create artificial scarcity with malicious intention to raise their prices which are very high and are not competitive;(e) ''prescribed'' means prescribed by rules made under this act; (f) ''profiteering'' with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means the sale of any consumer goods at a price or rate higher than the fixed maximum retail price or prevailing market price;15(g) ''retail price'' means such fixed price at which a dealer can sell consumer goods in retail and such price shall include all taxes levied on such products3 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force the hoarding of, profiteering in and over pricing of consumer goods and articles in any manner whatsoever is hereby prohibited20(2) whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be guilty of an offence under this actprohibition of hoarding of, profiteering in and over pricing of consumer goods and articles4 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, set up a commission for price fixation of consumer goods for the purposes of this act(2) the commission shall consist of,—constitution of a commission for price fixation of consumer goods25(a) a chairperson to be appointed by the central government with such qualifications and experience as may be prescribed;(b) five members to be appointed by the central government who are experts in the field of commodities and consumer goods including representatives of the public and dealers respectively in such manner as may be prescribed;30(c) four members to be nominated by the state governments by rotation in the alphabetical order (3) the terms of office of the chairperson and members and the procedure to be followed in the discharge of their functions, and the salary and allowances shall be such as may be prescribed35(4) the union ministry of consumer affairs shall provide secretarial assistance to the commissionfunction of the commission5 (1) the commission shall, by order notified in the official gazette, fix the maximum selling retail price of all consumer goods and commodities which may be charged by a dealer or the minimum price which is to be paid by a consumer to the dealer40(2) the commission may while fixing the prices of the consumer goods, take into account,—(i) the quality and durability of the goods; (ii) the supply and demand position of consumer goods;(iii) the overall cost of production;(iv) the losses, if any, during production; (v) the price of accessories, which in any manner affect the price factor of theconsumer goods;5(vi) the prevailing price and availability position of similar products in theinternational market;(vii) the export potential of the consumer goods; (viii) any other relevant factor which may be deemed necessary in determiningthe price factor of the consumer goods;10(ix) fixation of different prices for different consumer goods in different statesor regions as per the local production, consumption and availability and other factors(3) after taking into consideration all the relevant factors the prices fixed under this act shall be revised from time to time by the commission(4) the prices fixed under this act shall be given wide publicity throughout the country through print, electronic and media in such manner as may be prescribed156 (1) it shall be duty of the appropriate government to implement the provisions of this act and the price structure fixed under this act within its territorial jurisdiction in the manner it may deem necessary or expedient to do so for the purposes of this actappropriate government to implement the provisions20(2) the appropriate government shall, by notification in the official gazette, ban the export of consumer goods which are in short supply in the country and allow free import of such goods in the countrymiscellaneous7 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, every dealer of consumer goods shall,—25(a) display a board showing the maximum retail price of every consumergoods which he sells at a conspicuous place of his shop or establishment;(b) display the stock position on daily basis of all the consumer goodsavailable with him;(c) maintain a register for the consumer goods and make entries about thegoods giving such details and in such manner as may be prescribedpenalty308 (1) any dealer who contravenes the provisions of sub-section—35(1) of section 3 and profiteers in any consumer goods shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which shall not be less than four years but may extend to seven years and also with fine which shall not be less than five lakh rupees but may extend to ten lakh rupees and the consumer goods in respect of which the offence has been committed or such part thereof as the trial court may deem fit shall be confiscated by the appropriate government40(2) any dealer, consumer or person who in contravention of the provisions of this act found deliberately hoarding consumer goods or articles of daily use shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment which shall not be less than five years but may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees and the hoarded stock shall be confiscated by the appropriate government under the orders of the trial court45(3) any dealer who, without valid and reasonable ground refuses to sell any consumer goods shown in the stock by him to any consumer desirous to purchase the goods or refuses to sell it at the price fixed under this act shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to five years and also with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees(4) any dealer who contravenes the provisions of section 6 shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees5power of search and seizure9 when any police officer not below the rank of inspector of police has reasonablegrounds for believing or has definite information that there has been a contravention of any provisions of this act, such officer may, after recording in writing the grounds on his belief, at all reasonable hours enter and search any place where a dealer keeps, or is for the time being keeping, any consumer goods covered under this act and seize the goods under this act102 of 197410 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure,1973 all offences punishable under this act shall be cognizable and non-bailablecognizance of offence and arrest without warrant15(2) any police officer, not below the rank of inspector of police, may arrest withoutwarrant any person against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or creditable information has been received of his having been involved in any of the offences punishable under this actact to have overriding effect11 the provisions of this act and rules made thereunder shall have effectnotwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force2012 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of anyother law for the time being in force dealing with any of the matters dealt with in this actact to supplement other laws power to make rules13 the central government may,  by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonsthese days the general public particularly the poor, middle class and housewives have adversely been affected by sharp increase in the prices of consumer goods of daily use it is becoming difficult for the households to have two square meals as the atta, rice, pulses, edible oils, ghee, spices, sugar, vegetables and fruits have become very costly and gone out of the reach of the common man this is causing resentment, concern and frustration amongst the people be it salaried class, middle class, daily wage earners, poor or those living below the poverty line and mostly the housewives whose budget for kitchen is shrinking very fast in order to maintain the balance and keep check on increasing expenditure, the housewives resort to cut the items or reduce their quantity but in vain even daal-roti has become a luxury for almost all the households nutrition has become the victim and survival has become the main issue on the other hand, the dealers are resorting to profiteering and selling the goods on premium at their whims and fancy the wholesalers and others are in most cases creating artificial scarcity by hoarding the goods with intention of profiteering later there is no check on the pricing of any commodity prices are fixed by the dealers as per their choice and it is said that syndicates in different parts determine the prices on daily basis resulting in price rise of every thinghence, a system of checks and balances has become necessary in order to stabilize the prices of different consumer goods, which are used by the common man if a commissions is set up for this purpose it may fix the retail prices of all consumer goods to protect the poor consumers in the country penal clauses have to be provided for those who do not comply with the prices determined by the commission and those who resort to hoarding and profiteering so as to deter them this will control the price rise to a great extent and give the desired results to the common man, those living below poverty line, daily wage earners and housewives whose household budget has become nightmarish for themhence, this billv  hanumantha  rao financial memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for setting up of a commission to fix the retail prices of consumer goods for the purposes of the bill the bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees one hundred crore may involve as recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of india per annuma sum of rupees one hundred crore may also involve as non-recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of india memorandum regarding deligated legislationclause 13 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for the deterrent measures for the control of consistently rising prices ofessential commodities particularly of foodgrains, pulses, edible oils, fruits and vegetables and items of daily use which have adversely affected the commonman and for prevention of hoarding, profiteering and determination of prices of all consumer goods by the appropriate government to give the desired relief to the commonman and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto————(shri v hanumantha rao, mp)gmgipmrnd—4763rs(s-5)—29-12-2008