LAHORE:
Lahore residents continue to fight with the gain in essential foods, with prices in markets that substantially exceed the lists of rates published by the Government.
The city consumers complain that merchants seem free to charge what they want during an already high inflation period.
The regulatory and applied authority of Punjab (pear), which was launched with the aim of modernizing supervision and introducing stricter controls, has not yet been effective.
For buyers who navigate the markets this week, the contrast between controlled rates and real retail prices was clear.
Corral birds remained one of the most obvious examples. The official price of the living chicken was set between RS314 and RS328 per kilogram, while chicken meat was established in RS475. However, customers reported that chicken meat was being sold between RS510 and RS620 per kilogram, with boneless cuts that are sold to RS900.
A buyer in the municipality’s market expressed his frustration, saying: “Every time I see the official list of rates published on the wall, he feels like a joke. The merchants laugh when they point it out. We have no choice but to pay what they demand because we cannot stop eating.”
The vegetables showed similar gaps. The potatoes, fixed at RS70 to RS75 per kilogram for grade A products, were constantly sold by RS120, while the mixed lower grades were from RS80 to RS100. The onions, which officially appear in RS75 to RS80, reached RS120 in the retail trade. The tomatoes, which the Government set at RS136 at RS150, were sold for RS250 to RS300, doubled the notified rate. Garlic and ginger were no exception. The local garlic, established in RS200 to RS210, was sold to RS300, while the Chinese and Thai ginger, officially with an official price between RS430 and RS500, reached until RS800 per kilogram. Other vegetables, including cucumbers, brinjal, spinach, zucchini and Ladyfinger, also obtained a gain of 30 to 70 percent above official prices, adding more tension in household budgets.
Fruit prices underlined the same problem. The apples, fixed between RS140 and RS325 depending on the variety, sold in markets for RS200 to RS500. Bananas, limited to RS200 per dozen, cost RS250, while the Guayas, officially without changes in RS205 to RS215, were sold for up to RS400. The dates, fixed at RS470 to RS510, were sold between RS800 and RS2,000 per kilogram, depending on the variety and quality. The grapes, the peaches, the papayas and the caquis similarly exceeded the official pricing poles, with broad discrepancies in the neighborhoods.
Buyers say that when the authorities visit the markets, their inspections are symbolic at best, and suppliers resume overload once the inspectors leave.
“Officials come with notebooks and cameras, but the next hour is the same,” said a Shadman resident who was buying vegetables for his family. “We are told every week that monitoring will improve, but never happens. Common families like mine have no protection.”
The city administrators continue to promise more strict controls, insisting that market committees and magistrates are intensifying supervision. But with the price gaps that persist in almost all perishable products, families in Lahore say that the load of inflated invoices becomes heavier every week.
