KARACHI: Profiteers in the city continued to play hide and seek with the price control authorities on Thursday as 11 of them were arrested for selling different food items, including fruit, vegetables, meat and chicken, at exorbitant prices, city administration officials and witnesses said.

They said that several meat and chicken sellers shut down their shops and stalls and fled during the raids by price control committees headed by assistant commissioners and mukhtiarkars in different parts of the city.

The officials said that as many as 147 cases of profiteering were reported in parts of the city. They said that fine of over Rs500,000 was imposed on the profiteers, 11 of whom were also arrested and sent to jail.

The witnesses said the price control committees’ members did not take any action against the elderly sellers and vendors, but warned them of strict action if they were again found selling the daily use food items at the prices higher than those fixed officially.

Price and Supply Minister Ismail Rahu told Dawn that he visited several localities in the city to find out if the daily use commodities were available at officially fixed rates after receiving complaints from people. He said he had formed eight price control committees in Karachi which were taking action against the profiteers.

The minister said that over 4,300 shops of fruit, chicken, milk and grocery were checked across the province on the third day of the holy month of Ramazan and over 1,150 profiteers were fined.

During his visit to Khadda Market, people complained to him of higher prices of daily use commodities and demanded of him to take stern action against the profiteers.

One of the women customers at the market told the minister that the commodities were sold at officially fixed prices as long as he and price control team remained in the market. “Once you leave, these shopkeepers and vendors will start selling everything at higher prices,” she deplored.

Another customer at a meat shop said that action of the authorities against profiteers had little impact on the prices as it appeared impossible to effectively enforce price control by those official endeavours.

The minister was asked by people to permanently deploy price control officials in each market to ensure that the commodities were sold at official prices.

The officials said that 16 milk sellers, 42 fruit sellers, 23 vegetable sellers 19 meat sellers, 23 poultry sellers and seven sellers of bakery items were fined.

They said that four sellers of fruit, four of poultry meat and three of bakery items were arrested and sent to jail.

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani told Dawn that he had asked all the deputy commissioners to monitor closely the performance of magistrates engaged in the price control campaign and ensure that all food items were available to people at fixed prices.

He said that those found violating the price lists would be brought to book.

Mr Shallwani said that the action was being taken according to the law and no leniency was being shown to any violator of the lists of the prices fixed officially.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2019