Food Minister Pralhad Joshi stated that the Centre has no immediate plans to increase margins for fair price shop dealers under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

Food Minister Pralhad Joshi responded to a Lok Sabha query, stating that the government has no plans to increase margins for fair-price shop dealers.

The government has set specific margin rates, but state governments can decide to exceed the centrally prescribed limits.

According to revised norms from April 2022, the dealer margin is Rs 90 per quintal, with an additional Rs 21 per quintal for general category states.

For special category states, the margin is Rs 180 per quintal plus an additional Rs 26 per quintal.

The government has yet to propose increasing these margins.

The TPDS is managed jointly by the central and state governments under the National Food Security Act.

Joshi clarified that the responsibility for licensing, supervision, and monitoring fair price shops lies with state and union territory governments.

The central government does not determine or pay the margin/commission/honorarium for fair-price shops.

The central government only assists states and union territories with intra-state movement, handling of food grains, and Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers’ margins under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The TPDS (Control) Order, 2015 allows states to set and periodically review fair price shop margins to ensure viability.

States are also allowed to sell non-TPDS commodities to improve the economic sustainability of fair-price shops.

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