PESHAWAR, Nov 6: In the absence of any check from the government, retailers have increased price of sugar by Rs5 per kilogramme in various localities here as the four sale points at Ashraf Road and Rampura bazaars had been closed.

Short supply of the commodity at utility store outlets is another reason for the recent price increase.

During a visit to different shops on Saturday, it was noted that Rs95-96/kg had been charged in residential localities and Rs94/kg in bazaars. However, the wholesale rate of sugar is Rs92/kg.

Shopkeepers said that there was no sugar shortage in the wholesale market and the price had been raised without any reason. “We have to purchase sugar on the open market as it is not available at subsidised rate,” said a customer Rahat Khan at Bara Gate.

All the official sale points at the wholesale market had been closed and traders were selling sugar on the open market at their will. Traders said that mills owners in Punjab and Sindh had increased sugar price, which led to price hike in other parts of the country.

The traders said that availability of sugar on controlled rates at these sale points had great impact on stability of sugar price on the open market. They said that most of the sugar millers were influential politicians and the federal government was reluctant to move against them and stabilise prices.

In-charge of a sale point Inamullah Khan told Dawn that there were four sales points at Ashraf Road and Rampura Bazaar where sugar was sold at Rs60 per kg. “I was the last salesman to close the point while the rest had closed a week ago,” Mr Khan said. He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had forwarded a demand to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan for 3,000 tonnes of sugar and if provided the sale points would be opened again.

Mr Khan said that in the absence of any check from the government the sugar price fixation had been left to the mills owners. However, when contacted ration controller of food department, Peshawar, Saleem Khan said that there was no plan for provision of sugar at subsidized rate.

“I have no information about any fresh demand made to the TCP for sugar quota,” he said.

Officials of some utility stores said that sugar supply to city stores was much below demand of customers. They said that due to the huge supply and demand gap consumers had to wait for several hours to get sugar.

They, however, admitted that sugar sold at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa utility stores was extremely substandard though it was available at Rs55/kg.

A senior official of the USC suggested that quota of number of sugar packets should be increased to the stores, otherwise the crisis would worsen. He said that sugar shortage at the USC outlets was prompting the retailers to exploit poor people.