The National Assembly passed a bill banning private moon sighting committees on Wednesday in an attempt to end controversies surrounding dates of religious events.

The bill was moved by State Minister for Law Shahadat Awan and proposes that only the federal and district ruet-e-hilal committees will be allowed to operate in the country.

It also says that anyone operating an unauthorised moon sighting committee will be fined Rs500,000. The bill also says that anyone who provides false testimony about having sighted the moon could be punished by a three-year jail sentence or a Rs50,000 fine, or both.

The bill also prohibits TV channels from making an announcement regarding the sighting of the moon before the official announcement is mage and any channel that violates the rule will be fined Rs1 million. Their license could also be suspended.

The bill also lays out that the central ruet-e-hilal committee will have 16 members: a chairman, two scholars from each of the four provinces, a cleric from Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. The comittee will also have members of Suparco, Met Office and the religious affairs ministry.

Moon-sighting is the subject of regular controversy in Pakistan as most events are determined by the lunar calendar. TV channels rush to break the news of the moon being sighted which can come from any source. The central committee is regularly at odds with non-governmental ones and multiple eids are often celebrated in Pakistan.

The bill will become law after it is passed from the Senate.