The Essential Commodities Act was passed in 1955 to ensure easy availability of essential goods and protect consumers from exploitation. It empowers the government to regulate production, supply, distribution and prices of essential commodities. The list of essential commodities has been reduced over time from 70 items to only 7 presently through periodic reviews. The Act aims to balance consumer interests and allow for a free market in goods not deemed essential. It has been amended several times, including removing restrictions on many agricultural goods in 2001.

1. Essential Commodities Act, 1955ByAmitKumar (PGDMA 1001)Anjali Sati (PGDMA 1002)

2. GenesisPassed by the parliament of India on April 1, 1955.ObjectiveEnsure the easy availability of essential commodities to consumers and to protect them from exploitation by unscrupulous traders.This Act empowers the Central Government to: i) regulate production, supply, distribution, storage, transport, etc.; and ii) control price of commodities which have been declared under the Act, as essential are provided for those who commit offences under the Act. The Act was amended in 1986, empowering recognised Consumer Associations to make a report in writing of any facts constituting an offence under the Act.

3. Contd..The enforcement/ implementation lies with the State Governments and UT Administrations.State government issue various control orders w.r.t. trading of some essential commodities such as food grains, edible oils, pulses, kerosene and sugar etc.Items listed under the act are reviewed from time to time as per the economic policies, production, demand and supply.The number of essential commodities which stood at 70 in the year 1989 has been brought down to 7 at present through such periodic reviews.From February 2002, 11 commodities were removed.On 31 March 2004, two more commodities were deleted.At present, only 16 commodities are in the list.

4. Different Sections under the Act1. Short title and extent :(1) This Act may be called the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. 2. Definitions:(ia) "Code" means the code of Criminal Procedure; (iia) "Collector" includes an Additional Collector and such otherOfficer, not below the rank of Sub-Divisional Officer(a) "essential commodity“ means any of the following classes of commodities (i) Cattle fodder, including oilcakes and other concentrates; (ii)coal, including coke and other derivatives; (iii) component parts and accessories of automobiles; (iv) cotton and woollen textiles; (iv) drugs.

5. Contd.. (v) Foodstuffs including edible oil-seeds and oils; (vi) Iron and steel, including manufactured products of iron and steel; (vii) Paper including newsprint, paper board and straw board; (viii) Petroleum and petroleum products, (ix) Raw cotton, and whether ginned or and cotton seed; (x) Raw jute;(b) "food-crops" include crops of sugarcane;(c) "notified order" means and order notified in the Official Gazette;(d) "State Government", in relation to a Union Territory, means the administrator thereof;

6. Sections contd..3. Powers to control production, supply, distribution, etc., of essential commodities.4. Imposition of duties on State Government, etc.5. Delegation of powers6. Effect of orders inconsistent with other enactments 6A Confiscation of essential commodity 6B. Issue of show-cause notice before confiscation of essential commodity. 6C. Appeal. 6D. Award of confiscation not to interfere with other punishment 6E. Bar of jurisdiction in certain cases :-

7. 7. Penalties7A. Power of Central Government to recover certain amounts as arrears of land revenue.8. Attempts and abetment9. False statement10. Offences by Companies11. Cognizance of offences12. Constitution of special courts.13. Presumption as to orders14. Burden of proof in certain cases15. Protection of action taken under Act; 15A. Prosecution of public servants16. Repeals and savings

8. The Act/Orders/Rules of Essential Commodities: The following orders are at present in effect under the provisions of Section-3 of the said Act : (A) Bihar Trade Articles (Licences Unification) Order, 1984. (B) Bihar Essential Articles (Display of Prices and Stocks) Order, 1977 (Re-published in 1986). (C) Bihar Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel Oil Dealer's Licensing Order, 1966. (D) Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply and Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 1998.

9. (E)The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000.(F) Kerosene (Restriction on Use and Fixation of Ceiling Price) Order, 1993. (G) Naptha (Acquisition, Sale, Storage and Prevention of Use in Automobile) Order, 2000. (H) Solvent, Raffinate and Slop (Acquisition, Sale, Storage and Prevention of Use in Automobiles) Order, 2000. (I) Bihar Rice and Paddy Procurement (Levy) Order, 2005.2.In addition to Essential Commodities Act, 1955,

10. Major Amendments Pulses, Edible Oilseeds and Edible Oils (Storage Control) Order, 1977for securing equitable distribution and availability at fair price of these items to the consumers. The orders to exempt the imported edible oils (excluding coconut oil, palm kernel oil, RBD Palm Oil and RBD palm stearin) from the stock limit as prescribed under the Control Order, 1977 has been made in orders to make easy availability of these commodities at fair price.Essential Commodities Act, 1980The Prevention of Black-marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities. The Act empowers the Central and State Governments to detain persons whose activities are found to be prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies of commodities essential to the community

11. Essential Commodities (Special, Provisions) Act, 1981Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) 1995order issued by the Government of India under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to regulate the prices of drugs.

12. As per the decisions of the Conference of Chief Ministers held on 21 May 2001, the restrictions like licensing requirement, stock limits and movement restrictions have been removed from almost all agricultural commodities.Wheat, pulses and edible oils, edible oilseeds and rice being exceptions, where States have been permitted to impose some temporary restrictions in order to contain price increase of these commodities.Department of Consumer Affairs introduced the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2005prune the list of essential commodities to the minimum by deleting all such commodities which have no relevance in the context of present improved demand and supply position and to facilitate free trade and commerce.Only those commodities considered essential to protect the interest of the farmers and the large section of the people "below the poverty line" are proposed to be retained under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

13. THE ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2006(1) DrugsExplanation.-For the purposes of this Schedule, "drugs" has the meaning assigned to it in clause (b) of section 3 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940;(2) fertilizer, whether inorganic, organic or mixed;(3) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils;(4) hank yarn made wholly from cotton;(5) petroleum and petroleum products;(6) raw jute and jute textiles;(7) (i) seeds of food-crops and seeds of fruits and vegetables;(ii) seeds of cattle fodder; and(iii) jute seeds.

14. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2010introduced on August 9, 2010seeks to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to clarify the price payable for levy sugar (procured for public distribution system).The Principal Act was amended last in December 2009. That amendment had two main provisions.It added an Explanation to Section 3 of the Principal Act, stating that the central government, while procuring levy sugar, would not pay any price in excess of that calculated on the basis of the Minimum Price (SMP) for sugarcane set by the central government.

15. It also amended the price to be paid to sugar producers by the central government for procuring levy sugar.

16. It specified that the price of sugar will be based on the “Fair and Remunerative Price” (FRP) fixed for sugarcane, and will include the manufacturing cost, duties, taxes and reasonable rate of return.Impact of the ActThe Central Government regularly monitors the action taken by State Governments/`UT Administrations to implement the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The action taken by States/UTs under the Act during the year 1995 (as reported upto 31.12.1995) is an indicated below:- (i) No. of raids made -- 80927(ii) No-. of persons arrested -- 9528(iii) No. of persons prosecuted -- 3387(iv) No. of persons convicted -- 2714(v) Value of goods confiscated -- 1472.65 (Rs. in Lakhs)

17. Implications of Essential commodity act in current business scenarioIt is a sort of restrictions on tradeThe Essential Commodities Act mandates that commodities that have been identified as being “essential commodities” can only be traded and stored by licensed holders. However, legally, Negotiable warehouse receipt (NWR) is a negotiable instrument. It is in the nature of an actionable claim representing a right to a commodity. Trading in NWR will not be covered by ECA, until physical possession is sought. Only the last transaction would have to comply with the provisions of the ECA.Contd…

18. Regulations under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955:Problems due to restrictions:Most of the provisions in this Act have become irrelevant in the context of having achieved self-sufficiency in production.