The government on Saturday warned that anyone found indulging in “forward trade” of pulses would be dealt with firmly as per various provisions of the Essential Commodities Act.
The warning comes ahead of the operationalization of online stock monitoring from April 15, 2024. This was communicated to the industry during interaction with the Department of Consumer Affairs, an official statement from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, said.
The feedback from the industry and inputs from market intelligence relating to the stock position with various market players have been collated for further verification, it said.
The development comes close on the heels of similar action by the government asking traders/wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers, and other processors in all states and UTs to declare their stock position of wheat on the portal with effect from April 1, this year on every Friday till further orders.
This is being done to manage overall food security and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation of prices of essential food grains and pulses.
The Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare during a series of interactions with representatives of the pulses industry in the run-up to the operationalisation of online stock monitoring from 15th April 2024 emphasised that “anyone found to be indulging in forward trade of pulses would be dealt with firmly as per various provisions of Essential Commodities Act.”
Stocks in warehouses located in major ports and in pulses industry hubs should be verified from time to time and strict action should be taken on stockholding entities found to be reporting false information on the stock disclosure portal.
She also discussed with Indian Mission in Yangon on issues relating to pulses imports from Myanmar such as import prices in the wake of revised exchange rates and stocks held by importers in Myanmar.
The Indian Mission apprised that Rupee Kyat Settlement Mechanism has been operationalised from 25th January 2024 to simplify trade transactions and to make them more efficient, the Ministry statement said.
The Central Bank of Myanmar released guidelines for payment procedures under the Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) on 26th January 2024. The new mechanism will apply for both sea and border trade and trade in goods as well as services.
Adoption of the mechanism by traders will reduce costs associated with currency conversions and eliminate complexities related to exchange rates by eliminating the need for multiple currency conversations.
Dissemination about the operationalization of this mechanism among trading communities especially pulses importers is being separately done wherein they are being requested to utilize the Rupee/ Kyat direct payment system using SRVA through the Punjab National Bank.
The importers and other industry players like millers, stockists, and retailers, have been asked to honestly declare their stock of pulses, including imported Yellow Peas, weekly on the portal https://fcainfoweb.nic.in/psp/ from 15th April 2024.
The States and UTs have also been asked to enforce weekly stock disclosure by all stockholding entities and verify the stocks declared by them.
