Four milk sellers jailed, 21 fined as crackdown continues

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A total of Rs162,000 fines were imposed on 21 milk sellers on Monday while four were sent to jail for charging a price for milk higher than its official rate.Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani has announced that no change in milk price has been made and the official rate of milk is still Rs94 per litre. He has warned the milk sellers against charging a price for milk higher than the official rate.“The campaign has already been initiated against profiteers which will continue,” Shallwani said. According to a statement, officers jailed four milk sellers while fined eight others a total of Rs92,000 in District East. In District Central, five shopkeepers were told to pay fines amounting to Rs35,000 while in District Malir, eight shopkeepers were fined Rs35,000.The commissioner asked the citizens not to pay higher prices to any shopkeeper and appealed to them to register complaints against the profiteers. He asked the consumers to make call on Karachi Commissioner Control Room number 99205634.A day earlier, the retailers said they were ready to face any action for increasing the milk price as they responded to the Karachi commissioner’s warning of a crackdown against those selling milk at high rates.The rate of milk in the city was increased after the associations of dairy farmers announced a per-litre increase of Rs10 in the milk price, which was accepted by the Milk Retailer Association.Earlier in the month of July, the retailers had refused to accept the dairy farmers’ increased rate and took the matter to the Commissioner Office, which is responsible for notifying the milk price.In the second week of July, a meeting was held at the Commissioner Office in which all the associations involved in the milk trade were present. It was decided there that milk would continue to be sold at its previous price in the city until July 17, after which the price would be revised. However, according to Amjad Ali of the Milk Retailers Association, no such meeting took place. “We had no option but to increase the milk price.”

from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2U7oIQK
The News International - Karachi