Punjab introduces ordinance against hoarding

LAHORE: Punjab government on Wednesday introduced an ordinance to curb smuggling of essential commodities and punish hoarders, ARY News reported.

Under the ordinance, the hoarders will be fined and slapped with a three-year sentence on guilty of hoarding essential items.

The ordinance states that the items recovered from the hoarders will be auctioned and the deputy commissioners would be authorized to check the stock of the items.

It may be noted that last week, President Dr Arif Alvi had promulgated an ordinance aimed at tackling the hoarding of essential food items and goods.

The new ordinance that has come into effect with the ratification by the president stipulates maximum three years of imprisonment and fine equal to 50 per cent of the seized items’ value for hoarders.

According to the law, any dealer found hoarding any of the 32 consumer items mentioned in the ordinance “shall be guilty of an offence punishable with simple imprisonment up to three (3) years and fine equivalent to 50 per cent of the value of the scheduled articles involved in the case.”