After the government has shortened working hours for markets and business centres in Rawalpindi, traders and shopkeepers have employed novel ways to do business till late at night.
After 9 pm, a large number of shopkeepers in different markets and trade centres on Muree Road, Commercial Market, Raja Bazaar, Bara Bazaar, Moti Bazaar, Trunk Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Kashmiri Bazaar, Bohar Bazaar, College Road, Liaquat Road, City Saddar Road, All Bazaars of Saddar, Tench Bata Bazaar and other areas bring out their stuff and set up temporary stalls on sidewalks while keeping their shutters half down.
Shopkeepers dealing with customers also open their shutters up to give alternative stuff, other than on the stalls, to their customers.
These shopkeepers were catering to the shopping needs of the customers, most of them women, who could not resist mainly the demands of their children and came to the markets without caring for the new business timing.
The shopkeepers, mostly selling shoes, clothes, cosmetics, watches and household items kept half the shutters of their shops down fearing action by the administration.
Interestingly, police surreptitiously support the shopkeepers by blaring sirens and horns when the district administration and senior police officials show up for enforcing the new timing.
With the wheezing of alarm by the police on duty, shopkeepers down the shutters fearing action by the police and administration officials. As soon as the officials leave the vicinity, the shopkeepers keep half shutters open and start doing business.
In some areas, they have also deployed informers and as soon as any team of police, administration or army arrives there to seal the shops, the shopkeepers get informed and pull their shutters down.
The shopkeepers usually do business at the temporary stalls up to midnight.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2022.
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