KARACHI: Karachi Commissioner Mohammad Saleem Rajput on Thursday set up a committee comprising senior officials and members of the consumer bodies to suggest measures to stop profiteering and bring down prices of essential items.

He took the step at a meeting with the representatives of traders, wholesalers and retailers.

The commissioner, while setting up the committee under the deputy commissioner central Fuad Ghaffar Soomro, gave it a week’s time to come up with suggestions and practical measures for immediate implementation.

“The meeting was attended by deputy commissioners, officers of Bureau of Supply and Prices, members of consumers bodies and traders,” said a statement issued after the meeting.

“The meeting reviewed the current mechanism of checking the prices of essential items at retail level and also debated over the growing complaints of unjust profiteering by certain segments of the traders’ community. After detailed discussion, it was decided to revisit the current mechanism and make a more effective and practical one.”

The committee, it said, would also include deputy commissioner east Altaf Sheikh, chairman Consumer Rights Protection Council Shakeel Baig, chairman market committee Ali Zaman Jokhio and senior officials of Bureau of Supply and Prices.

“The committee would review the current mechanism of fixing prices at wholesale level mainly at Sabzi Mandi to make it more transparent to cap the profiteering. The committee would finalise its suggestions and proposals in five days which would lead to decisions from the Karachi commissioner in this regard,” added the statement.

Commissioner Rajput, during the meeting vowed to bring down the prices of edible items, adding that anyone exploiting the loopholes in the system would be identified and penalised, said the statement.

“Anyone defying the set rules of price implementation at wholesalers, middlemen and retailers would be dealt with strictly. The deputy commissioners would ensure effective surveillance of daily pricing exercise and implementation of official prices using all available resources,” the statement quoted the commissioner as saying.

Published in Dawn, September 22th, 2023