Punjab Grocers Reject Rs2 Per Kg Profit Margin

LAHORE: A new disagreement has emerged between the Punjab Grocery Merchants Association (PGMA) and the provincial government over a proposed fixed profit margin of only Rs2 per kilogramme on grocery products.

The association has strongly opposed the proposed margin, describing Rs2 per kilogramme as insignificant and insufficient for retailers. Its central and divisional representatives have also rejected newly issued rate lists by deputy commissioners covering essential grocery commodities such as pulses, rice, ghee and cooking oil.

PGMA has called on Punjab Price Control Committee Chairperson Salma Butt to urgently arrange a province-wide meeting so the association can present its concerns and discuss a workable pricing mechanism.

The association is seeking a minimum retailer profit margin of 10 percent. It has also urged authorities to determine the prices of pulses, rice, ghee, sugar, flour and white chickpeas on the basis of prevailing open-market rates rather than fixed prices that do not reflect actual procurement costs.

The association’s Central Patron-in-Chief said the government had officially fixed the price of gram lentils at Rs220 per kilogramme, despite wholesalers selling the same commodity for around Rs260 per kilogramme.

He questioned the practicality of forcing retailers to sell the product below their purchase price. According to him, shopkeepers must recover not only the wholesale cost but also expenses associated with transportation, loading and unloading workers, shopping bags and other operational costs before earning any profit.

The association maintained that the proposed pricing structure fails to account for these expenses and could place grocery retailers under significant financial pressure.