KARACHI, Oct 4: Vegetable dealers enjoyed a field day ahead of Ramazan by charging maximum from consumers in absence of any official price list. Consumers usually throng the markets to have the vegetables in anticipation that the prices will further shoot up during Ramazan but ultimately they turn out to be a loser also ahead of Ramazan when traders charge the rates on their own.
The wholesale rates of vegetables have not changed during the last few days. Vegetable dealers fully utilized the situation after seeing the buying passion of consumers ahead of Ramazan.
Retailers charged Rs15 per kg for onions, Rs25 to Rs28 per kg for tomatoes and Rs15 per kg for potatoes as against prices of Rs12, Rs16 and Rs14 per kg on Oct 1. Besides, the price of ginger and garlic, which was being quoted at Rs72 and Rs48, is now being sold at Rs100 and Rs80 per kg.
Consumers face same ordeal in other essential commodities as well. Retailers are demanding the existing market rates as against the official rates fixed for Ramazan. For instance, Kabuli Channa is being sold at Rs55 per kg as against the official price of Rs47 per kg. The price of gram pulse (Dal Channa) is being quoted at Rs30-32 per kg by the retailers ahead of Ramazan as compared to the official rate of Rs27 per kg for Ramazan. Basin stands at Rs32 to Rs35 per kg as against the fixed price of Rs30 per kg.
Same was the case with other pulses and rice as consumers were paying much higher prices before Ramazan than the actual rate.
The city government had planned to issue the price list 15 days ahead of Ramazan so that the prices could be maintained and stabilized for the next one and a half month but it failed to finalize the list due to dilly-dallying by the city government officials.
However, the official price list, prepared by CDGK with the help of Karachi Retail Grocers Group (KRGG), has been issued on Tuesday.
According to the new price list, consumers will pay Rs10 more to buy Nido 1000 gram pack at Rs240 this year as against Rs230 last year, while 400 gram pack will cost Rs108 as compared to Rs100 last year. The price of Everyday 1000 grams and 400 grams has been fixed at Rs228 and Rs104 as compared to Rs210 and Rs103.
The list carries Rooh Afza and Jam-i-Shireen prices at Rs75 as compared to Rs70 last year. Mitchell’s squashes will cost Rs60 as against Rs58 last year while its jam and jelly carry price of Rs54 as against Rs52 last year.
The list does not carry sugar rate despite it has been fixed at Rs25 per kg by the city government. General Secretary Karachi Retail Grocers Group, Farid Qureishi, had removed the sugar rate from the printing process on the pretext that the wholesale price had reached to Rs25 per kg.
In absence of any official rate, retailers will sell the commodity on their own. At present, it is being sold at Rs25 and Rs26 per kg in the market.
Like yesteryears, consumers have to face an uphill task in buying fruits whose rates have already started flying high ahead of Ramazan. As no official rates have been fixed yet, banana is being sold at Rs20 to Rs30 per dozen while apple varieties are available from Rs25 to Rs50 per kg.
As people go wild for fruits just an hour before fasting time – traders fully utilize the situation by putting aside the official rate and demanding on their own. This is the reason that fruit dealers secure top position during Ramazan for minting huge profits from the consumers.
The price of ghee and cooking of Dalda, Habib, and Tullo have either been unchanged or declined in the last one year. Even these companies, like last year, have also come out with discount packages this year.
