Gandhinagar: The state legal metrology department penalised 860 establishments for violations related to weights and measures, packaging declarations and overcharging during a special inspection drive carried out during the festive season. The department collected Rs 20.2 lakh in compounding fees after inspecting 1,597 establishments across Gujarat, including sweet shops, dry fruit stores, wholesale traders, supermarkets, and malls.According to an official statement, inspections were conducted in two phases, from Oct 11 to 20 during Navratri and Dussehra, and on Oct 28 and 29 ahead of Diwali, to prevent traders from short-changing consumers during the festive shopping rush.Officials found a range of violations, including supplying goods below the declared weight, failure to get weighing scales verified and stamped, non-registration of manufacturers and packers under the Packaged Commodities Rules, and charging prices above the maximum retail price (MRP).Of the 860 cases detected, 515 involved failure to verify and stamp weighing instruments, leading to penalties of Rs 6.6 lakh. Another 69 cases related to non-registration of packers, from which Rs 5 lakh was recovered.The department also collected Rs 3.5 lakh from 145 cases involving other irregularities, Rs 3 lakh from 95 cases of short-weight or short-measure practices, and Rs 2 lakh from 36 cases involving overcharging or tampering with MRP declarations.
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