KARACHI: After successful enforcement of official retail price of loose milk, which is now selling at Rs200 per litre in the city, the commissioner of Karachi has issued a list of prices of various grocery items in a bid to provide relief to consumers.

It is seen that official rates, issued by the government, are never followed by retailers, who also even do not display the price lists on their shops.

The city administration fixed on Saturday the rate of high quality pulses of Mash, Moong, Masoor, and gram at Rs495, Rs242, Rs275 and Rs204 per kg, respectively while the prevailing market rates were Rs520-580, Rs280-320, Rs300-360 and Rs 220-260 per kg respectively.

The official prices of kernel basmati export quality, kernel basmati No1, basmati 386, kernel basmati Sela No1, Irri 6 and Irri-9 prices are fixed at Rs369 per kg, Rs341, Rs193, Rs286, Rs154 and Rs193 per kg as against the retail rates of Rs400, Rs370, Rs250, Rs320, Rs170 and Rs220 per kg.

Commissioner notifies rates of pulses, rice, meat, etc

The above-mentioned rates of commodities will be revised, if required, on November 15, 2023 and revised list shall be enforced from November 16, the price list said.

On October 27, the commissioner of Karachi fixed retail prices of live broiler and its meat at Rs324 and Rs502 per kg respectively, while the rates in the market were Rs340-380 and Rs550-600 per kg.

On October 4, the official rate of mutton was fixed at Rs1,540 per kg. However not a single meat seller in market is following the rate. Retailers are selling the meat at Rs1,800-2,200 per kg.

Rates of various qualities of beef were fixed on October 3, 2023.

Beef boneless, beef with bones, veal (bac­hia) boneless and with bones rates were fixed at Rs795, Rs635, Rs950 and Rs800 per kg.

Currently beef meat without bones and with bones are selling at Rs800 and 700 per kg while veal meat (bachia) without bones and with bones is openly being sold at inflated rates of Rs1,000-1,200 and Rs900-1,000 per kg.

A survey of the markets reveals that the commissioner has so far successfully enforced the official rate of Rs200 per litre of loose milk from October 3 onwards.

The milk was earlier selling at Rs220-230 per litre in the city.

However, milk retailers were asking the commissioner to ensure availability of milk at the official wholesale rate of Rs188 per litre. The milk retailers claimed the price regulator had so far failed to implement the official wholesale rate of loose milk.

However, fearing huge fines for failing to comply with official retail rates, or even imprisonment, the retailers are following the official rate.

It is said that quality of loose milk has also been compromised after enforcement of the official rate of Rs200 per litre.

A milk retailer said: “It is obviously the fear of heavy fine of Rs50,000 and legal action which has forced even stubborn retailers to display the official milk price at their shops. Displaying price at a shop is now mandatory, which is now visible at almost every milk outlet.”

Based on previous years track record, consumers had always paid more than the official prices in almost all commodities due to lack of implementation of official price lists and non-seriousness of price regulators, leaving traders free to fleece the end users.

Even traders while displaying price lists on shops had never bothered to sell the items at controlled rates.

Speaking to Dawn, many consumers said the crackdown on sugar mafia and smugglers and hoarders had brought an environment of fear over the market stakeholders and the same strategy should be repeated in case of other commodities like raiding warehouses and confiscating commodities that were being smuggled out to neighbouring countries and hoarded in secret warehouses to gain profit on demand and supply gap in the local market.

Price control and crackdown

The crackdown on hoarders and speculators has shown that prices can be brought down any time and its practical example is the drop in retail price of sugar, which has been brought down to Rs135-145 from peak of Rs200-220 per kg a month back.

While calling for extending the crackdown on other commodities as well, chairman of Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association Rauf Ibrahim said the caretaker government should stay at least for the next one year to keep a close eye on prices.

He expressed the fear that raids on markets and efforts to control smuggling would stop after takeover of a new political government following the general elections.

“Market mafias and hoarders had enjoyed a free hand in 16 months of PDM government,” he claimed.

He said that he was satisfied with the fixing of wholesale rates despite fluctuations in some items, adding that wholesalers would ‘manage’.

Retailers and superstores may face problems in selling the commodities at official rates due to their huge profit margins.

Mr Rauf added that the price list of items like rice, pulses and spices was issued after a gap of one and a half years while the official price list of other commodities, including flour varieties, would also be issued in coming weeks.

He said the commissioner this time appeared determined to implement the rates in retail markets and retailers and wholesalers would get challans for overcharging.

“To discourage hoarding, the government should also fix stock limit for rice, wheat, wheat flour, sugar, etc, for traders and make regular checks on daily or weekly basis,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2023