Following the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, STOCK LIMITS (hoarding restrictions) on a foodstuff may be imposed by the Government:

The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 clarifies that the imposition of STOCK LIMITS must be based on objective criteria and, importantly, stock limits on FOODSTUFFS (including cereals, pulses and edible oils) can be imposed only under EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES - such as war, famine, extraordinary price rise or a natural calamity of severe proportions. This was a deregulatory reform aimed at attracting investment and confidence in the food supply chain while preserving a trigger for genuine emergencies. The regulation of other essential commodities continues, but the foodstuff stock-limit trigger is now tightly conditioned. The 'extraordinary circumstances' standard is the distinctive 2020 change.