How much rice can be stockpiled before it's a crime?

The Essential Articles (Price Control and Anti-Hoarding) Act, 1953 imposes a limit on the amount of paddy and rice, a mill can stock for processing. Government regulations state that a rice mill’s stock of paddy must not exceed 5 times the quantity it can process in a 15 day period, and for rice, the legal limit is two times the quantity. A rice mill can face legal action, if the paddy and rice reserves are kept for more than 30 days. “Under the existing anti-hoarding regulations, a rice mill can stock paddy no more than 5 times its production capacity in 15 days. Rice and paddy can be stocked for 30 days. A mill owner can face legal action if the person keeps more than the permitted quantity in stock, or keeps the stock for more than 30 days,” Food Minister Qamrul Islam confirmed to Bangla Tribune on Monday. Meanwhile, responding to a query, Bangladesh Auto Major and Husking Mill Owners’ Association General Secretary Layek Ali told Bangla Tribune: “If a rice mill has a production capacity of 10kg over 15 days, it is legally allowed to stock no more than 50kgs of paddy and 20kgs rice, and only for 30 days.”

Anti-hoarding act explained

The Special Powers Act, 1974 banned hoarding or stockpiling, and introduced steep penalties for it. The subsection 2(e) of the act states: “hoarding means stocking or storing anything in excess of the maximum quantity of that thing allowed to be held in stock or storage at any one time by any person by or under any law.” The subsection 25(1) of the act states: “Whoever is found guilty of the offence of hoarding or dealing in the black-market shall be punishable with death, or with [imprisonment for life], or with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to fourteen years, and shall also be liable to fine: Provided that if, in the case of an offence of hoarding, the person accused of such offence proves that he was hoarding for purposes other than gain, whether financial or otherwise, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, and shall also be liable to fine.”

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Meanwhile, the Essential Articles (Price Control and Anti-Hoarding) Act was formulated in 1953 to regulate the supply, distribution and reserve of essential commodities. ‘Essential commodities’ were defined under the subsection-2 of the Control of Essential Commodities Act, 1956. The section 3 of Essential Articles (Price Control and Anti-Hoarding) Act states: “The Government may, by notification, require any trader to mark, on any essential article, the maximum prices fixed under sub-section (1), in such manner as may be prescribed and the traders concerned shall mark such article accordingly.” “No trader shall, unless previously authorised to do so by the Government, withhold from sale or refuse to sell to any person, any essential article in quantities not contrary to the normal practices of his business,” the section 8 of the act clearly states.The article was first published on Bangla Tribune