GUWAHATI, Dec 14 - With a view to streamlining the distribution of onions in the wholesale and retail markets of the city at a time when prices of the commodity have shot up substantially in recent months, the Kamrup (Metro) district administration has issued a series of guidelines for traders, including making it compulsory for them to have a valid licence for sale and storage of the kitchen staple.
An order to this effect has been issued by Dr M Angamuthu, Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) under provisions of the Assam Trade Articles (Licensing and Control) Order 1982 and relevant notifications of the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.
�No dealer shall carry on the business of purchase, sale and storage for sale of onion without obtaining a valid licence under the provisions of the relevant law of local municipal body/town committee/panchayati raj institutions, as the case may be, in the territorial jurisdiction of Kamrup (Metro) district,� said the order.
It said that the dealers must display the prices and stock of onion in the �Form E� in the local language and they may also display it in any other language.
�No dealer shall sell onion at a price higher than that specified in the list of prices of stocks. In case of retailers of onion they are allowed to realise a maximum of Rs 6 per kg over the cash memo price issued by the wholesaler depending upon the quality of the onion. No dealer shall refuse to sell onion to any person at the prices specified in the list of prices of stocks,� said the order.
Dealers have also been forbidden from withholding sale of onion kept in stock meant for that purpose and also from selling the commodity without issuing a cash memo or bill which will have to contain details of the transaction.
�Every dealer involved in import or purchase of onion in bulk by rail or road from outside Assam shall furnish a weekly return before the District Magistrate on the first working day of a week following the week for which the return is meant for. Every dealer involved in import, purchase, sale and storage for sale of onion as a wholesaler or sub-wholesaler shall furnish a declaration regarding his place of business and godown where the stocks are stored by him along with the weekly return,� the order stated.
The administration has also directed onion dealers to maintain a stock register of daily accounts showing daily transaction involving purchase, storage and storage for sale of onion, including the opening stock of each day, quantity received on each date showing the place from where the stock was received, quantities delivered on each day and their destinations of delivery, and the closing stock on each day.
�Every dealer shall enter all the transactions relating to purchase and sale of onion in the stock register. In case the purchase of onion is not received physically by the dealer on the date of entering of any transaction, a note shall be recorded in this regard in the stock register. The quantities of onion shall be entered in the stock register in quintals and bags or packets,� said the order.
It added that every dealer will have to complete the entries in the stock register for each day latest by the beginning of the transaction period on the following day.
Violation of the guidelines would lead to penalty, said the order.