Yamunanagar admn bans bundling of fertilisers

Taking a serious note of complaints regarding unethical practices by several fertiliser retailers, the district administration has imposed a complete ban on the tagging, bundling and mandatory purchase of any product with fertilisers.

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All fertiliser retailers have been strictly instructed to sell fertilisers independently and unconditionally instead of forcing farmers to purchase additional products such as pesticides, micronutrients and non-fertiliser items by bundling them with fertilisers.

Deputy Commissioner Parth Gupta said the order was issued after the district administration received complaints from several farmers regarding the unethical practice.

“The district administration is committed to safeguarding the interests of farmers, and will not tolerate any unfair trade practice. All fertiliser distributors and retailers are hereby strictly directed to ensure compliance with the order,” Gupta said.

Aditya Pratap Dabas, Deputy Director (Agriculture), Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Yamunanagar, said such companies had allegedly been forcing farmers to purchase additional products by bundling them with fertilisers.

Strict punitive action would be taken against those violating the order, he added.

“If any fertiliser retailer is found violating the order of the Deputy Commissioner, his licence will be suspended or cancelled under the Fertiliser Control Order, 1985, and legal action will be taken under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the company/vendor will be blacklisted,” Dabas said.

Special enforcement teams had been constituted to conduct regular and surprise inspections in this regard, the Deputy Director added.