The had first notified The Punjab Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Counselling and Rehabilitation Centres Rules on January 16, 2011. However, there were many reports of irregularities and malpractices by centres.
To regulate the functioning and licensing of drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres under Sections 71 and & 78 of the NDPS Act, and give more power to the department, the state government decided to amend the rules and notified amended rules as The Punjab Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Counselling and Rehabilitation Centres Rules 2020 on July 28 last year. However, the Health Department did not implement the amended rules for 16 months. In all these months, it kept issuing licences as per the rules of 2011, which had ceased to exist with the notification of the new rules.