Traders worried as QMC eyes 700% revenue increase

Hundredfold increase in rents to overcome shortfall of Rs700m

QUETTA: Traders and shopkeepers have decried the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation’s (QMC) decision to increase shop rents as the department seeks to increase the revenue generated from such shops from the current Rs1.04 million to Rs720 million – a staggering increase of over 700 per cent.

As part of the increase, the department says it will construct parking lots, parks and open spaces in and around the markets.

The vendors have labelled the sudden steep increase in rents as unjust, with the leader of a local traders’ association pointing out that the rent amount had not been finalised for over 1,200 shops that fall under the QMC.

Allahdad Tareen, a local trade union leader, said that the QMC officials were using 20-year-old documents that prescribed a 25 per cent increase every three years as pretext for the sudden hike in rents.

“The administrators discussed this increase with the vendors and shopkeepers but nothing was finalised. It was agreed to have a meeting after Eidul Azha to reach a mutually-acceptable conclusion,” said Tareen.

He added that the proposed increase was not only excessive but it would also leave the shopkeepers in a financially tenuous position. “The shops on Circular Road, which paid Rs750 as rent, will now have to pay Rs8,000 – a tenfold increase. Similarly, shopkeepers on Jinnah Road will now have to pay Rs25,000.”

He urged the authorities to reconsider the rent increase and to also take into consideration the amount spent by shopkeepers and vendors in the upkeep and maintenance of the market, including the amount spent on its branding.