The Department of Civil Supplies and civic bodies have a hard time controlling overpricing of commodities in the district and are taking desperate measures to bring the situation under control.
Despite repeated warnings to traders against increasing prices by more than 20% of wholesale prices, the department is still receiving complaints from the public. Fluctuation in wholesale prices do not help either.
Kozhikode Mayor Thottathil Raveendran had met wholesale merchants at Valiyangadi on Saturday to discuss the matter. And, the merchants had agreed to submit the wholesale price list of commodities every morning to the corporation. The lists will be exhibited in front of all supply stores. Middlemen can sell supplies by charging 3% to 5% more than the wholesale prices. Grassroots-level vendors can sell commodities by charging 15% to 20% extra. The civic body will take action based on the list every day, Corporation Secretary Binu Francis said.
Meanwhile, Civil Supplies officials are conducting regular inspections at independent shops and market places on the basis of complaints. The department has instructed merchants not to charge more than ₹30 per kg for banana, ₹60 for green chillies and ₹38 for Kuruva rice. Chicken should not be charged more than ₹120 per kg, the Vadakara taluk Civil Supplies officer said in a press release.
Panic buying down
Panic buying in the district following the declaration of the national lockdown has largely come down thanks to market intervention by the district administration to ensure sufficient stock of essential commodities in wholesale and retail markets.
Revenue officials said special squads comprising officials of Civil Supplies and Legal Metrology departments were on the field to closely monitor market trends. Since grocery shops and bakeries function till 5 p.m., there is also no major rush, they pointed out. Besides, two special control rooms are functional in the district to ensure sufficient availability of commodities and their trouble-free transportation from other districts or States.
Customers who have complaints about unfair pricing can contact the district-level helpline (9188527400) for spot action.
Though the heightened regulations on inter-State boarders were a cause for concern in the initial days of the lockdown, they were relaxed to a great extent to facilitate uninterrupted movement of goods carries. The shortage of vegetables and fruits too has been addressed, officials claimed.
A wholesale grocery shop owner near West Hill in the city said the unhealthy trend of purchasing huge quantities of essential commodities, especially rice and other food grain, had largely come down as customers were convinced of the availability of sufficient stock in the market. “We are also not short of any items as inter-State goods movement is smooth,” he said.
Vendors too expressed satisfaction over the availability of essential commodities from wholesale suppliers. Padmanabhan, a retail rice trader at Puthiyangadi in the city, said customers who earlier depended on supermarkets were now happy to approach even smaller shops.
