KARACHI: Commissioner Hasan Naqvi has reduced the price of various varieties of flour and roti but consumers could not get any relief from these measures.

As per a notification issued on March 1, the retail price of three varieties of wheat flour (flour No 2.5, fine flour and chakki flour) has been slashed to Rs87, Rs92 and Rs100 per kg from Rs89, Rs96 and Rs105 per kg prevailing on December 26, 2024.

However, in the retail markets, consumers are paying Rs100 per kg for flour No 2.5 followed by Rs110 per kg for fine flour and Rs120 per kg for chakki flour.

The commissioner has also announced reduction in chapatti (100 grams) price to Rs10 per piece from Rs12 notified on June 5, 2024.

The rates of tandoori naan (120 grams), naan (140-150 grams) and naan (180 grams) have been reduced to Rs15, Rs18 and Rs23 per piece from Rs16, Rs20 and Rs25, respectively.

However, majority of the roti makers are selling chapatti at Rs15 per piece. The average tandoori naan is priced at Rs25 per piece, while some big players are demanding Rs30 per piece for it.

A roti maker said the decision to cut roti prices was made only for Ramazan.

Consumers may also not get a full price relief benefit from the commissioner’s decision as they cannot instantly check the weight of different roti varieties due to absence of any scale or measurement at Tandoor and roti shops.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2025