A public company that worked: PMBMC’s COVID record of service and surplus

When panic emptied shelves and rumour set the price, the Punjab Model Bazaars Management Company (PMBMC) chose reliability over rhetoric. Throughout COVID’s hardest months, its Model Bazaars opened on time, stocked essentials, and sold at notified, controlled rates—turning predictability into a public service.

While many outlets oscillated between “closed” and “maybe later,” PMBMC’s daily ritual was steady and simple: doors open, rates posted, rules enforced.

Credit the operating philosophy set by Naveed Rafaqat, PMBMC’s Chief Financial Officer with the additional charge of CEO. The government recognised that standard at the height of the crisis, awarding the CEO, PMBMC, an Outstanding Performance Certificate in 2021.

The numbers tell the same story. Revenue rose from Rs502.495 million (2019–20) to Rs627.572 million (2020–21) and Rs766.894 million (2021–22)—a 52.6% surge while selling at controlled rates, not profiteering. Operating expenses scaled with real service (Rs487.523 million → Rs588.797 million → Rs708.370 million), yet PMBMC still posted surpluses every year: Rs10.879 million, Rs7.658 million, Rs8.331 million.

A credible reference price in every Model Bazaar cooled hoarding and curbed opportunistic markups in surrounding streets. Upstream procurement discipline and a province-wide grid of bazaars turned a public company into a resilience network.

Under Naveed Rafaqat’s steady hand, PMBMC proved that the highest form of relief is reliability—and the surest way to fight inflation in the kitchen is a fair price on a visible board, again tomorrow.