Lahore: There’s no samosa without chutney!

[LahoreEstate]

* Shopkeepers selling chutney packets for Rs 4 with samosa
* Selling small samosas at Rs 6, bigger ones for Rs 10

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: The ongoing ‘samosa politics’ between the district government and shopkeepers has reached another twist with most shop owners making it compulsory for buyers to buy chutney (sauce) with the samosas.

Daily Times found in a survey over the last week that the chutney was being sold with the samosas for the first time in Lahore’s history. Earlier, chutney was always provided free with the samosas. It was found that the shopkeepers had found this way of making up for the profits they lost with the government fixing the prices of samosa.

The shopkeepers believe that they have been dealt an unfair hand with the government fixing the price of a vegetable samosa at Rs 6, and a mince samosa at Rs 10. The government, however, says the prices were fixed after meeting shopkeepers from across the city.

It began when Imtiaz Awan, one of the special magistrates appointed by the City District Government Lahore (CDGL), fined a major sweetmeat chain for selling samosas for Rs 13 each.

However, after being fined, the shop owner increased the price of samosa by Re 1. They displayed the new rate list, showing the rate of samosa at Rs 14 at their Wahdat Road, Iqbal Town, Gawalmandi and other outlets. In order to dodge the customers, the shop owners have now started selling chutney with the samosas to make up for their lost profits.

The other shopkeepers in Main Market Gulberg, Hafeez Centre, Liberty and Ghalib Market have also adopted similar methods. Some of them are selling samosas for between Rs 8 and Rs 12 right under CDGL’s nose.

Cheating: The shopkeepers have found another way of cheating the government. They sell the small samosas at Rs 6, while selling the regular samosa for Rs 10.

Nasir Butt, who sells samosas in Ghalib Market, said he was selling a samosa for Rs 6, and chutney for Rs 4 with every samosa. He said it was not possible for the shop owners to provide free chutney at the price specified by the government. However, he said he was not forcing his customers to buy samosas.

A customer, Khurram Abbas, contradicted Butt and said the customers had to buy chutney with the samosa. He said the overcharging was not restricted to samosas, and vegetables, milk, yogurt and fruit were also subject to price hikes. He said CDGL had reportedly appointed 52 special price control magistrates, but they were unable to check prices during Ramzan.

A CDGL spokesperson told Daily Times that the government was leaving no stone unturned to clamp down on profiteers, and the public should also report such incidents to the magistrates.

He said the special magistrates booked at least 41 shopkeepers for selling different commodities on higher prices, not displaying the price list, hoarding and mistreating the customers on Saturday.

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?pag...009_pg7_22