LAHORE:The Department of Food Safety and Consumer Protection on Monday organized a special orientation session for officers-in-training of the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA), which was attended by more than 100 officers.
During the session, Director General Enforcement Punjab Imran Qureshi and Additional Director General Zuba Azeem briefed the PERA officers on the performance of Price Control Magistrates (PCMs), price control measures and consumer protection initiatives, said a handout issued here.
They said the performance of Price Control Magistrates and the PERA force across the province had been commendable.
They added that consumer rights were being protected through digital initiatives in Punjab.
They said 11,325 complaints had so far been received through the Consumer Protection App, of which 11,307 had been promptly resolved.
Highlighting the performance of PCMs, Additional Director General Zuba Azeem said Pakpattan, Lodhran and Khushab had performed exceptionally well in app registrations, achieving more than 100 per cent of their targets.
She further said new targets had been set for October 2026, with Tier-1 districts assigned a target of 1,500 registrations.
The session was informed that the department had taken significant measures to address consumer complaints.
More than Rs7 million had been refunded to consumers for defective products, while fines exceeding Rs7.7 million had been imposed for violations. In addition, products worth more than Rs6.5 million had been replaced and handed over to consumers.
By September 2026, the number of consumers registered on the Consumer Protection App had reached 69,100.
On the occasion, DG Enforcement Imran Qureshi said a comprehensive framework had also been developed to eliminate ambiguous return and replacement policies.
He said action against brands involved in misleading advertising and the sale of substandard products had been intensified. Strict policies had been formulated for the garments, cosmetics and beverages industries, while stringent legal action was being taken against food businesses that failed to display product labels and expiry dates.
Imran Qureshi further said a large-scale survey involving more than 152,000 people had been completed to identify consumer concerns. Of these, more than 46,500 consumers from the garments sector and over 37,000 from the e-commerce sector had shared their opinions.
He said prices and public complaints were being closely monitored through the district dashboard, while the provincial-level mechanism for price control and consumer protection was fully operational.