No stitch in time, saves no nine: Residents vexed as tailors charge high prices before Eid

Say use of generators, rise in price of materials, increases stitching cost

PESHAWAR: Residents of the city expressed their dissatisfaction over abrupt increase in rates of stitching clothes by tailors ahead of Eidul Fitr and asked the district administration to maintain checks and balances over market rates.

According to locals, tailors have increased stitching charges by up to Rs300 for a single suit.

Amir Shah, a customer told The Express Tribune tailors use the excuse of disrupted power supply to overcharge customers. He said prices increase every year because tailors claim they use generators to create a continuous power supply for stitching clothes. “I will have to pay Rs900 for a single suit to a tailor in Saddar Bazaar,” he said.

A tailor in Saddar Bazaar told The Express Tribune a meeting of tailors association was held and proposed rate list given to them by district administration was rejected. He said the rates chalked out by the administration were too low to cover the cost of a single suit.

He said he was paying Rs350 to a worker for stitching a single suit and price of materials used in stitching was increasing which meant tailoring expenses were increasing.



“The district administration should consult tailors before fixing rates for stitching clothes and they should control the rate of materials used in stitching first.”

He said the tailors’ association had fixed Rs900 for stitching a single suit. He added, “However, every tailor has fixed his own prices – some even charge over Rs1,000.”

Exacerbating misery

As if charging high prices was not enough, many tailors have regretted customers owing to excessive workload.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Muhammad Adnan, who owns a tailor shop on University Road and in Saddar Bazaar said, “Every shop has a limited work load that its keepers can bear.” He added tailors mostly stop booking orders from new customers a month ahead of Eid so they can stitch the clothes already given to them by their regular customers.



DC Riaz Khan Mehsud told The Express Tribune that prices imposed by the district administration last year price were still valid in the city’s market.

In reply to a question, Mehsud said no meeting was held with tailors association to fix recent rates yet and till then, last year’s price list will apply.

Yesterday’s fabric

The district administration had issued an price list for tailors last year and all those tailors charging customers an amount exceeding that set by the official list were arrested during raids.

The price list issued last year by district administration, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, fixed prices according to various categories. The rate of stitching a single suit in category A-plus was fixed at Rs800, for a suit in category A, the price was set at Rs650 and for category B and category C, prices amounted to Rs400 and Rs300 respectively.

The city has over 25 major tailoring shops that offer stitching services to customers. Most of these shops are ranked as category A-plus, owing to the use of high quality material and extensive décor of their shops.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2016.