According to the new orders from the government and the Department of Environment and Climate Change, with the expiration date of December 10 concerning the ban on thin shopping bags, the operation begins for shopkeepers across Rawalpindi Division including grocery stores in the face of fines and penalties for thin plastic bags. Penalties range from sealing shops for three days to fines between Rs50,000 and Rs100,000. The operation involves the Department of Environment, District Administration, and Food Authority, with police support.
The government is permitting the sale of 75-micron thick shopping bags against a huge license fee as the only alternative for banning the use of thinner bags. The Food Authority added that manufacturers of such thick bags would have to pay Rs300,000 annually for each machine. A wholesale dealer will part with Rs200,000 annually, while common storekeepers would pay Rs100,000 annually and obtain a license. The renewal fee is Rs50,000.
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“For instance, grocery stores spend Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 on average in a month for shopping bags. Not that annual tax of Rs100,000 approved is rational when 90 percent of them do stock, at maximum, worth Rs100,000 to Rs150,000,” said Saleem Pervez Butt, President, of Grocery Merchant Association. He urged that “this policy be rescinded”.
“The drive begins today, strict across the board on thin bags,” said Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema.