KARACHI, Sept 16: Except for some relief in the prices of melons, people continued to pay high rates for almost all fruit varieties at the end of the 15th of Ramazan despite the fact that the city government had reduced the rates in the last 15 days.

Though the prices of some fruits had slid down last week, the rates have again started going up this week.

The high-quality banana was selling at Rs50-60 per dozen, depending on the locality of its sale, while the city government had issued its rate as Rs44 per dozen on Tuesday. On the first of Ramazan, its rate was fixed at Rs45 per dozen.

There was no let-up in the price of grapes (sundarkhani), selling between Rs140 and Rs150 per kilogramme. However the city government had reduced its rate to Rs100 on Tuesday as compared to Rs110 on the first of the Islamic month.

Grapes (round) were priced at Rs80 per kilo. They were available at Rs100 per kg on the first of Ramazan. The government had increased their rate to Rs75 per kg on Tuesday while their official rate was Rs66 per kg on Sept 2.

The price of apple (golden) had not witnessed any change, ranging from Rs50-60 per kg. The government had increased its rate to Rs42 per kg on Tuesday from Rs36 per kg on the first of Ramazan.

The official rate of high-quality guava had fallen to Rs50 per kg from Rs86 per kg in the last 15 days, but clever retailers were charging Rs80-100 per kg depending on the areas of its sale. In the initial days of the holy month, many retailers were selling it at Rs120 per kg.

The official rate of pomegranate had been enhanced to Rs62 per kilo on Tuesday from Rs56 per kg, but the vendors kept the retail rate between Rs80 and Rs90 per kilo.

The retail price of melon is Rs20 per kg as against the government rate of Rs17 per kg while its official rate on the first of Ramazan was Rs26 per kg. In many areas, retailers were selling at Rs12 to Rs15 per kg.

The government had cut down the rate of Iranian dates to Rs82 per kg from Rs100 per kg, but the pushcart owners were still selling at Rs100 to Rs120 per kg since the first of the holy month.

The official retail price of water melon had gone up to Rs18 per kg from Rs15 per kg while the retailers have made no change in the rates and were charging Rs20 per kg in the open market.

Many fruit vendors were selling the items without putting on display the official price list. They are literally not afraid of any price-checking campaign as they know they can easily pull out more money from the consumers’ pockets to compensate themselves for the fine paid. Fruit vendors get into top gear when people stream out of mosques after Asr prayers and buy fruits.

Overcharging

The city government has imposed fines totalling Rs4.8 million on about 4,000 retailers and shopkeepers for overcharging while over 200 people had been sent to jail in the last 15 days of the holy month, an official said, adding that fruit vendors continued to remain on top of the list of profiteering, followed by fresh milk sellers and meat-sellers.

It has been observed that the 50 officials with magisterial powers, looking after the megacity’s markets, might have lost the enthusiasm in chasing the retailers in the last 15 days which was evident from the fresh increase in prices of fruits since the beginning of this week.