Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act, 1977

The Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act, 1977 gives the government broad power to control the prices and supply of essential goods and to punish profiteering and hoarding. Section 3 lets the Federal Government issue orders regulating the pricing, production, movement, supply, and sale of any "essential commodity" listed in the Act's Schedule, whenever it judges this necessary to ensure fair prices and equitable distribution. Sub-section (2) spells out what such orders can cover, including price controls, licensing for interprovincial transport, banning the withholding of goods from sale, capping how much stock a dealer or producer may hold, requiring price lists to be displayed, and authorising searches and seizures of goods believed to be in violation.

Section 6 lets the Controller-General of Prices and Supplies fix maximum prices for essential commodities by notification, and Section 6(2) simply bans selling above that fixed price. For commodities without a fixed maximum price, Section 6(2A)–(2B) requires a dealer, importer, or producer wanting to raise prices to give the Controller-General thirty days' written notice, with audited accounts, before doing so, and the Controller-General can object within that period. A 2023 amendment (Section 6A) added a right of appeal against a Controller-General's order, to be decided by a federal or provincial appellate committee within five working days.

Section 7 sets penalties: contravening a price-control order is punishable with imprisonment up to three years and a fine up to one lac rupees, with a mandatory minimum of one year's imprisonment for a repeat offence; the court can also order forfeiture of the goods involved. Section 9 makes company directors and officers personally liable for a company's violations unless they prove they exercised due diligence or had no knowledge. Section 10 penalises false statements made to authorities under the Act with imprisonment up to three years, a fine, or both. Section 11 allows offences to be tried summarily by a Special Magistrate, who can even try a case at the location where the offence occurred.

The Schedule (as most recently substituted in 2021) lists dozens of essential commodities across three parts — including edible oils, sugar, wheat, milk, meat, vegetables, cotton, fertilizers, cement, vehicles, and even face masks and hand sanitizers — though because this Schedule can be amended by notification, the current list should be checked against the latest official version.