The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) along with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and local administration in three districts conducted raids and fined businesses for hoarding edible oil on Thursday.
A team of DNCRP in Naogaon fined three trading companies Tk65,000 for stockpiling soybean oil and selling them at a higher price.
The team led by Shamim Hossain, assistant director of the DNCRP, conducted drives at Kiran Traders, Ranjit Pal Store and Azad Store and fined them Tk30,000, Tk25,000 and Tk10,000 respectively.
The three business establishments were penalized for selling bottled soybean oil at a higher price violating the Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 and also for stockpiling oil, reports BSS.
The seized oil gallons were immediately sold to consumers at the price mentioned on the body of the gallons.
Assistant Director of DNCRP Shamim Hossain said the drives would continue in the district to check the hike in commodity prices.
Meanwhile, DNCRP fined a shop for selling bottled soybean oil at a higher price in Chhotapol area of Chittagong on Thursday.
Also Read - Competition Commission sues 8 edible oil companies
A DNCRP team raided Bismillah Store after being tipped off and found 1,500 litres of soybean oil stockpiled at the shop, DNCRP Chittagong Divisional Deputy Director Mohammad Fayez Ullah confirmed the matter.
The shop was fined Tk 200,000 and was sealed off.
In Khulna, a mobile court recovered 1,67,484 litres of edible oil and fined three trading companies for hoarding.
A joint team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and district administration conducted the operation in the Sadar Thana area of Khulna on Thursday.
The operation was led by Khulna District Administration Executive Magistrate Debashish Basak.
The establishments were fined Tk160,000.
Lt Col Mostak Ahmed, director of RAB-6, confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
The establishments that were fined are—Saha Trading, Ranjit Biswas and Sons and Sonali and Sons.
The government has been conducting raids against hoarders to avoid an artificial crisis for edible oil in the country.
Along with the fines, the traders have been instructed to sell the oils at government-mandated prices within the next three days, executive magistrate Debashish Basak said.
Our Khulna correspondent Md Hedait Hossain Molla and Chittagong correspondent Pimple Neel contributed to the report
