Tourists complain of overcharging in Murree

Large crowds swarm hill resort to spend Eid holidays

RAWALPINDI:

For the first time after the Murree tragedy, an extraordinarily large number of citizens visited the hill resort during the Eid holidays to enjoy the pleasant weather.

This year, five Eid holidays (April 21 to 25) were announced by the government on the eve of Eidul Fitr which provided a great recreational opportunity for the citizens.

The hotel owners, however, took unfair advantage of the business opportunity by overcharging the visiting families while the district administration miserably failed to reduce hotel fares despite tall claims.

Despite announcements by the Punjab government after last year’s Murree tragedy, which claimed the lives of 23 people due to a strong blizzard, the government hotel fare system has not been implemented to date.

Muhammad Shah Mir Khan, who went to Murree on the second day of Eid with his family, said that as soon as he entered the district, he realised that the prices of food items had increased.

“A bottle of mineral water which normally sells for Rs70 was being sold at Rs120 while other items including candies, cold drinks, burgers, fries, tea, coffee were also being sold at double rates,” he claimed and added that he ended up paying Rs12,000 for one night stay in a hotel located in the GPO chowk.

He demanded the government regularise the fares of all the hotels established in Murree and that the facilities on which the fares are charged should also be provided in the hotels.

Muhammad Arif, another citizen who arrived in Murree from Karachi, said: “There is inflation in Karachi too but it is even higher here. I made a special budget before starting the travel but it fell short of reaching here. Now I have requested my family to send in more cash.” Arif said that a plate of biryani was being sold for Rs500. “A poor man gets worried when he reaches Murree. The biggest atrocity is that there is no mechanism for complaints against the overcharging,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner Captain (retd) Qasim Ijaz said that before Eid, he held a meeting with the officials of the hotel associations and demanded that the food prices and hotel fares should not be increased. “At present, the administration does not have any framework to force the hotel owners to charge less,” he said.

Security arrangements

On the other hand, the Rawalpindi district administration had finalised all the arrangements to ensure the security of the visitors and facilitate them, particularly during the Eid holidays.

According to a police administration spokesperson, Rawalpindi CPO Syed Khalid Mehmood Hamdani urged the tourists to observe traffic rules on the roads of Murree to avoid traffic mess and any untoward incidents during the Eidul Fitr holidays.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2023.