Licences of 2 fair price shop owners cancelled

Nashik: The district supply office (DSO) Nashik on Saturday terminated the licences of two fair price shop (FPS) owners under the public distribution system (PDS) after they were found tampering with the electronic point of sale (e-POS) machines.
According to an officer from the DSO, the two shopkeepers from Nandgaon taluka were found tampering with the machines and maintained improper data of sales as a result the action was initiated against them.
The officer said the shopkeepers whose licences have been terminated are Chhagan Vitthal Vadakte, owner of shop number 154 in Khadgaon village and Santosh Bhosale, owner of shop number 37 from Borale village.
The state government has distributed e-POS machines across FPS to check misuse and control of supplies in the shops. The e-POS machines are handheld devices that allow Aadhaar authentication at the moment of distribution, ensuring that the proper beneficiary gets the allocated ration.
“Besides, the FPS owners have been trained to handle the system and also asked to use “sale close” option at the end of every month. However, Vadakte and Bhosale were using the “sale close” option much earlier and the server took note of the same. So the officers from the DSO carried out an inspection at the two shops and found that the shopkeepers were carrying out sale manually which was not permitted. Hence the action,” the officer added.
The licence of another FPS from Malegaon city was terminated after a police complaint against its owner Hamid Khan Shah. The case has been registered with the Azad Nagar police following which Shah’s licence was terminated, the officer added.