“Ideally, the magistrates should check the markets every day,” a high ranking district officer told The Express Tribune. “But the leniency is there because these shopkeepers and owners would be fined almost every day if we started such an initiative.”
Shopkeepers and businesses in Main Market say the inspectors come round about once a week. “The magistrate comes less often now that Ramazan has passed,” said Shahid Idrees, a major fruit supplier.
Shahida Qamar, a teacher who was shopping at Jalal Sons, said consumers wanted daily price inspections to keep inflation down.
“I feel that the DCO or whoever manages price control should visit the markets every day and enforce the price regulations because, as a buyer, I only see the prices going up and up,” she said.
A Main Market traders’ union officer said he could not criticise magistrates just for doing their jobs. “In fact, the only thing that matters is if an injustice occurs. Then we have to take a stand,” he said.
Lahore has 57 price control magistrates, with one magistrate supposed to be assigned to each police station by the district coordination officer (DCO). Previously, magistrates had to report violations of the official price list to the police, who would register an FIR against the overcharging shopkeeper. Price control magistrates are assigned beats corresponding to the jurisdiction of their police station, but they have the authority to take action in other areas too.
Last year, price control magistrates were granted the power to issue a summary trial, meaning they could fine the shop owner (or a representative) up to Rs15,000 and/or put him behind bars for five days, said the district officer. If they come across repeat offenders or particularly glaring violations of the price list, they can give them bigger fines, subject to approval from a judicial magistrate.
Practically, this often means a shop employee is held until the fine is paid. Zafar, a butcher at a meat shop in Main market, recalled being fined by a price magistrate in Ramadan. “I refused to pay as I was just an employee,” he said. The magistrate confined Zafar to his government Jeep for five hours until the shop owner had paid the fine, he said.
Zafar said it was unfair that employees who had no say in setting prices were held for the owner’s or manager’s actions. He alleged that he had seen magistrates hand out fine even when prices were in line with the price list.
But most shopkeepers agreed the new system was better than the old one. “The system is pretty clear now,” said Usman, a butcher at a grocery store. “I remember before the new procedures that I would have to spend up to 72 hours in the police station. The last time I got fined, I paid Rs20,000 and did not have to go anywhere.”
The district officer said the biggest challenge of price control was to draw up daily price lists and make sure that they are available to all shopkeepers. This was the responsibility of the provincial government’s market committee, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2010.
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