Action ordered against profiteers, hoarders

Karachi Commissioner Sohail Rajput on Sunday directed all deputy commissioners to effectively enforce prices fixed by the city administration as well as the government.

According to a press statement from the commissioner office, the commissioner has asked the deputy commissioners to clamp down on profiteers and hoarders causing a price hike.

Chairing a meeting at his office to review steps taken by the city administration to provide essential food items on fixed prices, Rajput said there was a need to take effective measures to control fixed prices and take action against profiteers and hoarders without any leniency.

He asked the deputy commissioners to depute all additional deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and mukhtarkars who enjoy judicial powers for controlling the prices of essential items.

The meeting was attended among others by the additional deputy commissioners I and II, the assistant commissioner general and the assistant commissioner headquarters of the Karachi commissioner office and officials of the bureau of supply. Representatives of different consumer associations also attended the meeting and assured their full support to the city administration in its efforts to provide relief to consumers. It was decided in the meeting that the deputy commissioners would submit their reports on the actions taken against the profiteers and the hoarders on daily a basis to the commissioner.

The meeting also reviewed the performance of the market committee and discussed various steps to improve its functioning. The role of middlemen and retailers was also discussed in the meeting and it was decided that as middlemen and retails had an important role in determining the prices of essential commodities, action should also be taken against them. Different associations of consumers in the meeting briefed the commissioner on the probable reasons for the price hike and assured the city administration that they would support the administration in its.