By Dr Ansab Ali | Lahore, Pakistan

LAHORE: The Punjab Food Safety and Consumer Protection Department has organised an orientation session for under-training officers of the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA), focusing on price control, consumer protection and the performance of Price Control Magistrates (PCMs).

More than 100 PERA officers attended the session, where Director General Enforcement Imran Qureshi and Additional Director General Azuba Azeem briefed participants on the department’s initiatives and performance.

Officials highlighted the role of Price Control Magistrates and PERA personnel in enforcing price regulations and protecting consumer rights across Punjab. They also discussed the use of digital initiatives to improve public access to consumer protection services.

According to the briefing, the Consumer Protection App has received 11,325 complaints, of which 11,307 have been resolved promptly.

Additional Director General Azuba Azeem said Pakpattan, Lodhran and Khushab had exceeded their targets for app registrations, achieving more than 100 per cent of their assigned goals. She added that new targets had been set for October 2026, with Tier-I districts required to register 1,500 consumers each.

The session was informed that consumers had received refunds exceeding Rs7 million for defective products. Fines of more than Rs7.7 million had also been imposed for violations, while products worth over Rs6.5 million had been replaced and handed over to consumers.

The number of registered users of the Consumer Protection App had reached 69,100 by September 2026, officials said.

Imran Qureshi said the department had completed the preparation of strict regulations concerning product quality, sizing and non-standard sizes in the market. A comprehensive framework had also been developed to address ambiguities in policies governing the return and replacement of goods.

He said action against brands involved in misleading advertising and the sale of defective products had been intensified. Strict policies had been formulated for the garments, cosmetics and beverages industries. Legal proceedings were also being pursued in cases involving food products without proper labelling or expiry dates.

Qureshi further revealed that a survey involving more than 152,000 people had been completed to identify consumer-related issues. More than 46,500 consumers from the garments sector and over 37,000 consumers from the e-commerce sector had shared their views as part of the survey.

He said district dashboards were being used to monitor prices and public complaints, adding that Punjab’s price control and consumer protection system was fully operational.