Panaji : March 24, 2020 The Controller, Legal Metrology, Porvorim, has appealed to all the respective agencies to prevent overcharging in respect of masks, sanitizers etc, so that their availability and affordability is freely available to health services providers and consumers at large.
The Legal Metrology Department has informed that Section 18(1) of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 provides that ‘no person will manufacture, pack, sell, import, distribute, deliver, offer, expose or possess for sale any pre-packaged commodity unless such packaged is in such standard quantities or number and bears thereon such declarations and particulars in such manner as may be prescribed.’
Also, ‘no retails dealer or other person including manufacturer, packer, importer, and wholesale dealer will make any sale of any commodity in packed form at a price exceeding the retail sale price thereof.’
The penal provision for violation of Section 18 is made under Section 36(1).
‘Whoever manufactures, packs, imports, sells, distributes, delivers or otherwise transfers, offers, exposes or possess for sale, or causes to be sold, distributed, delivered or otherwise transferred, offered, exposed for sale any pre-packaged commodity which does not conform to the declarations on the package as provided in this Act, will be punished with fine which may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees, for the second offence, with fine which may extent to fifty thousand rupees and for the subsequent offence, with fine which will not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to one lakh rupees or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with both.
