The government is mulling hiking penalty for improper use of names and emblems conveying state patronage or ownership for the purpose of professional and commercial gains to Rs 5 Lakh. At present,the penalty for violating the provisions of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) of 1950 is only Rs 500. "The penalty has not been increased since the law came into force in September 1950. As a result,lower penalty has made the law ineffective. We are thinking of an amendment to the Act to increase penalty to at least Rs 5,00,000",said a senior government official. Indiscriminate use of names,flags and emblems misleads the consumers. So,it is necessary to impose higher fine as some offenders are big corporations and institutions who get away easily by paying existing meagre penalty of Rs 500,the official said. Besides huge fine,the government is also looking at amending other clauses of act to introduce more stringent measures to punish the offenders,the official noted. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs,which is responsible for ensuring non-violation of the provisions of the act,had first amended the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act way back in 1986 to give more teeth to the legislation. The ministry handles around 1,000 complaints annually and recently it issued notices to the hospital "Karnataka Health Institute" and Delhi-based historians society "Indian History Congress" asking them to change their names. The Centre has proprietary rights over certain names and emblems as they convey state patronage or ownership,and their use by non-state entities has the potential to mislead people. The Section 3 of the Act clearly prohibits the use of names,which would suggest "patronage of central or state government" or a connection with any "local authority or any corporation or body constituted by government" for trade,business or profession.
