City government fails to curb Ramazan price-hike

* Vendors blame wholesalers for increased costs, accuse authorities of harassment
& City government says wholesale markets fall under Market Committee’s jurisdiction
* Market Committee chairman holds demand-supply imbalance responsible

By Aayan Ali

LAHORE: District government officials are regularly inspecting Ramazan bazaars to prevent shopkeepers from increasing the prices of goods during the holy month. So far these inspections have been ineffective, as the authorities have failed to curb the price-hike.

The district government has conducted over 2,484 raids in 16 Ramazan bazaars and 198 fair price shops but the prices of goods remain much higher than they were before Ramazan.

So far, the raids have only resulted in “harassment” of shopkeepers and vendors, closing down stalls and heavy fines. Some shopkeepers have even been arrested on charges of “malpractice”.

A vendor, who had been subject to “harassment” by the city government, said that he was arrested for over-charging whereas he had “absolutely nothing to do with it”.

He said, “No one realises that in Ramazan the prices of the raw material that we use shoot up and that’s what increases our costs. The authorities, instead of looking at the root cause of the problem, find it convenient to penalise us and get media coverage. Everyday, you see pictures of city government officials ‘raiding’ Ramazan Bazaars and arresting poor vendors. If it was under our control, don’t you think we would have reduced the prices by now? Who would want to get arrested?

“The authorities allocated sites for these Bazaars claiming the vendors here would sell products at discounted prices. What is the relief provided to us? How are we expected to sell goods at a lower price when our costs have increased?” he asked.

Another vendor who was fined for selling vegetables at “extremely high rates” said, “Those who bribe these officials are better off. Unfortunately, I was fined on a low day. I had absolutely no money therefore I couldn’t even bribe them. Isn’t it ironic that a man who’s practically penniless is charged for over-pricing?”

“We sell the goods at higher prices because our purchase-price during Ramazan is much higher. That leaves us with a low profit-margin and we can hardly provide our families with a decent meal,” said another vendor, who asked not to be named.

“Government officials only bully, fine or jail the vendors since we cannot argue with them. If they cannot help us earn a decent living then they should at least allow us to work and take action against the wholesale traders,” he said. “Why does the law only apply to the weak?” he asked.

Talking about the raids and the price-hike, Farooq Amjad Mir, the district naib nazim, said that people should not purchase products sold above the price fixed by the district government. He said unless the public completely boycotted over-priced goods, the malpractice could not be dealt with.

Mr Mir said the public had chosen to compromise. People complain about increase in prices but keep on purchasing these over-priced goods. This encourages those involved in the malpractice. “The profiteers know that people are constrained by Ramazan timings and have no time to bargain with them,” he said. The public ends up buying the commodities at higher prices, he added.

He said that by boycotting over-priced commodities, the public could force shopkeepers to lower their prices. Mr Mir said that the district government had detained many profiteers and had issued continuous warnings but the city population is well over seven million and they did not have the manpower to inspect every shop in Lahore.

Responding to the point raised by vendors about the increase in wholesale rates, Mr Mir said that the wholesale fruit and vegetable markets were under the jurisdiction of the Market Committee. He said that it was the task of the Market Committee to fix commodity rates and the city administration could do nothing about it.

When contacted, the Market Committee chairman, Talat Mehmood, explained the concept of demand and supply. He said that the prices had been increased because of the increased demand during Ramazan. Mr Mehmood said that except for potatoes, all other vegetables were being sold at the prices fixed by the government. He said that the price of potatoes had risen in Ramazan because they were only being supplied from Swat and “the supply was nowhere near the demand”. Mr Talat claimed that his team was “actively pursuing the matter and commodity prices will decrease within the next three days”.

Earlier, Mian Amer Mehmood, the district nazim, blamed the media for causing a rise in prices as “it had made the issue an annual Ramazan feature”. He said that commodity prices soared after newspapers published Ramazan price trends.

Presently, 320 cases have been registered against shopkeepers and 63 people have been jailed for selling commodities above the prices fixed by the government. Fines amounting to Rs 13,834,300 have been collected from shopkeepers for over-charging customers and not displaying the rate-lists.

Residents of Samanabad, Muslim Town, Chauburji, Gari Shahu, Dharampura, Faisal Town, Ferozepur Road, Township and even Gulberg and Defence have continuously complained about the increase in commodity prices.

Ahsan Murad, a resident of Iqbal Town, said that the authorities and the traders were busy playing the “blame game” and things would remain the same until the end of Ramazan no matter what the government promised.

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