Speaking in the Lok Sabha the Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said sale of fertilizers above the printed price is punishable under the EC Act. It has been made mandatory for the fertilizer companies to submit along with their subsidy claims, the cost data of their fertilizer products from 2012-13 onwards in prescribed formats on six monthly basis, Ahir added.
The Department has also appointed Cost Accountants to scrutinize the said cost data to ensure that the prices fixed by the fertilizer companies are reasonable, Ahir said.
It has also been stipulated in the provisions that in cases, where after scrutiny, unreasonableness of MRP is established the subsidy would be restricted or denied even if the product is otherwise eligible for subsidy under NBS Scheme, Minister clarified.
In proven case of abuse of subsidy mechanism, the Department of Fertilizers, on the recommendation of Inter-Ministerial Committee may exclude any grades of fertilizers of a particular company or the fertilizer company itself from the NBS Scheme. This punitive provision would check overpricing of Fertilizers, he underlined.
Department of Fertilizers allocates adequate quantities of fertilizers to States by issuing monthly supply plan and continuously monitors the availability of fertilizers, he said in Lok Sabha.