Extra slip charges trigger cattle market disputes
Following what is being described as the most expensive cattle market auction in the city's history, the contractor of the Bhatta Chowk cattle market has imposed an additional "slip fee" of Rs6,000 on buyers alongside charges already being collected from livestock traders, after reportedly suffering losses due to a lower-than-expected influx of traders.
The move has sparked disputes and scuffles between buyers, traders and the contractor's staff across the market.
By Friday and Saturday night, desert camels had also begun arriving at the Bhatta market for Eidul Azha sacrifice, with camel prices witnessing a substantial increase this year.
According to traders, after securing the Bhatta Chowk market contract at an exceptionally high bid price, the contractor, fearing financial losses, unilaterally introduced multiple additional charges and taxes.
At present, livestock traders bringing large animals into the market are being charged Rs5,000 per animal, while smaller animals incur an entry fee of Rs4,000. However, buyers allege that once they purchase a cow or bull and attempt to leave the market, they are compelled to pay an additional Rs6,000 "slip fee".
The amount is reportedly being forcibly collected by armed personnel employed by the contractors, who allegedly prevent buyers from removing their purchased animals unless payment is made. Buyers of smaller animals are similarly being charged a Rs3,000 exit slip fee.
The practice has triggered repeated confrontations between citizens and contractor representatives.
Meanwhile, the district administration has officially designated eight cattle markets for Rawalpindi district and declared the sale of sacrificial animals outside authorised markets to be illegal. Authorities have announced fines of Rs5,000 and confiscation of animals for violations.
Despite the restrictions, traders have largely ignored the ban, and sacrificial animals continue to be sold openly along Adiala Road, Chakri Road, Pirwadhai, Ghazni Road, Bagh Sardaran, Rawal Road, the one-kilometre stretch behind the High Court, Gulzar-e-Quaid, Dhoke Gangal, Shakrial, Expressway Pindi Zone, Seham, Kalyal and Chak Beli Khan Road, as well as near TB Hospital Road.
Traders explained that many now bring only one large animal and two smaller animals into the official market at a time; once sold, additional livestock are brought in from holding areas outside the market to avoid excessive fees.
Livestock traders themselves have also voiced anger over soaring operational costs.
"We have had enough," said traders at the market, adding that taxes, entry fees, transport costs, fodder expenses and daily operational charges have made business nearly impossible this year. Many vowed not to return to Rawalpindi's Bhatta market next year.
Khuda Bakhsh, a trader from Sargodha, said: "You bring animals to the market and immediately have to pay Rs5,000, Rs4,000 or Rs3,000 in entry charges. Then every evening the contractor's men forcibly collect another Rs1,000 under the heading of security and miscellaneous facility fees."
He added that this year a 15-by-30 area in the market had been rented out for Rs300,000, while larger spaces ranged between Rs500,000 and Rs1 million. Prices of green fodder and straw inside the market, he claimed, were almost 100 per cent higher than in the open market.
Another trader, Allah Rakha from Khushab, said he had brought 85 goats and 40 bulls to the market. According to him, transportation expenses alone amounted to Rs1.1 million, while the rental cost for market space stood at Rs400,000, in addition to entry fees running into hundreds of thousands of rupees. "Our own food expenses are unbearable," he said. "For one person, breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea three times a day cost between Rs1,500 and Rs1,700 daily. Even surviving on lentils and chickpeas still costs around Rs1,100 per person."