ICTA teams impose fines of Rs1.615m on profiteers

Market committee keeps checking on food prices in markets

ISLAMABAD: Monitoring teams of Islamabad Capital Territory Administration, formed to keep a check on the prices of fruits and vegetables and display of rate lists, have imposed fines worth Rs1.615 million on profiteers over the past three months.

The raiding teams, comprising assistant commissioners and magistrates, have been constituted to check prices and to fine those involved in overcharging under Price Control Act-1977.

Officials on Sunday said that they had taken steps to check the increasing prices of vegetables and other edible items deemed to be essential and set up market committees under the Agriculture Produce Markets Ordinance 2011, to regulate the functioning of fruit and vegetable market.

The market committee is monitoring auction of consumer items and checking wholesale prices while meetings are held with traders under the chairmanship of deputy commissioner to persuade them for filing the gap between demand and supply.

The district price control committee regularly meets to review and fix prices of consumer items such as pulses, meat, milk and other essential edible items.

Officials added that the market committee is pursuing traders to bring maximum vegetables for auction in order to thwart profiteering of any kind.

The prices of fruit and vegetables are fixed on a daily basis and fresh lists are distributed to shopkeepers in urban and rural areas for strict implementation.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2018.