No onion shortage, mandi prices drop 9% in 9 days: Govt official

DoCA Secretary Nidhi Khare stated there is no onion shortage and mandi prices have fallen by 9%. The government is selling onions at Rs 35/kg in 48 cities to moderate prices. Action was also taken against cab aggregators for advance tips.

Govt Measures to Control Onion Prices

There is no shortage of onions in domestic markets, while mandi prices have declined 9 per cent in the last nine days, a trend that is expected to help moderate high onion prices, Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) Secretary Nidhi Khare said on Wednesday.

The government has also expanded its retail intervention to about 48 cities across the country to make onions available to consumers at Rs 35 per kg, she said.

“There is no dearth in the availability of onions and since the time that we started the retail intervention of making sure that onions reach to consumers at Rs. 35 per kg, we have been able to reach to about 48 cities in the country,” Khare told reporters on the sidelines of a PHDCCI event.

She said the government has used both rail and road transport to move onions as part of the intervention. “We have used the hybrid way, both transportation by the rail rigs as well as trucks,” she said. Khare said mandi prices have started declining and the trend is likely to help ease elevated onion prices in the domestic market. “I can say that now when we see and analyse the Mandi prices, in the last 9 days there has been a decrease by 9 per cent in the prices and therefore this is likely to now also start moderating the high prices in onions,” she said.

Action on Unfair Trade Practices

On consumer protection, Khare said the Department of Consumer Affairs had received complaints through the National Consumer Helpline 1915 over advance tips being sought by cab aggregators before taxi rides. Following an investigation and hearing, the practice was found to be misleading and an unfair trade practice, and its discontinuation was ordered. “Tipping is completely voluntary, and it should be left to the discretion of the consumer after he has taken the ride,” Khare said.

Legal and Metrology Reforms

She said the government has also decriminalised 20 provisions under the Legal Metrology Act as part of the Jan Vishwas reforms. She said the changes were aimed at addressing inadvertent technical violations, while provisions related to short delivery and deliberate attempts to cheat consumers have been retained.

The department has also introduced improvement notices for minor violations, allowing businesses to rectify shortcomings before penalties are imposed. Penalties will be graded and proportionate to the nature of the violation.

Graded Enforcement Example

Khare cited the Central Consumer Protection Authority’s action against ride-hailing platform Rapido, which was fined Rs 10 lakh for charging advance tips, as an example of graded enforcement.

Strengthening Verification and Standards

The government is also strengthening third-party verification through Government Approved Testing Centres (GATCs), with around 51 centres already approved. These centres will verify notified weighing and measuring instruments and are expected to make the verification process faster and more predictable.

Khare said another major reform is the strengthening of the dissemination of Indian Standard Time. Around 20 atomic clocks have been installed across five Regional Reference Standard laboratories, with their accuracy linked to the National Physical Laboratory. A universal time standard could help reduce disputes involving financial transactions, airlines, railways and other sectors, she said.

The department has also notified eight rules in the past year for weighing and measuring instruments, covering vehicle speed radar equipment, gas meters, moisture meters, breath analysers, speedometers and thermometers, among others.

Software testing infrastructure has also been strengthened to cover software used in measurement systems. (ANI)

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