USC denies raise in profit margins of daily use items

The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) Saturday clarified that the recent increase in prices of some of daily use items at its stores was due to increase in their rates by the manufacturers.
"We have not increased our profit margins but as the manufacturers have increased prices of their products we are forced to sell them accordingly," Managing Director USC, Brigadier Hafeez Ahmed (Retd) told APP. He dismissed the reports appeared in a section of press that the corporation had shifted the burden of providing flour and ghee to the poor at reduced rates onto the consumers through other items.
He said that the basic objective of USC was to provide essential items to the people at affordable rates and not to make money. He said the USC increased the prices of those items only which witnessed price hike in the open market adding that the gap between USC and the open market prices was still the same as before the current rates. The USC MD said within a couple of days the corporation would inform the public about the reasons behind the increase in prices of some of its items.
He said the USC had already announced to provide essential items to the poor through 'Bachat' Card Scheme. Five essential edibles will now be available at a price 42 percent less than the market rate through the utility outlets and the government will bear an additional subsidy amounting to Rs 3.4 billion in this regard. The relief will be given on five basic food commodities ie atta, ghee/oil, sugar, rice and pulse (Dal Channa).
Brigadier Hafeez Ahmed (Retd) said that under the scheme the poor would be able to buy 60-kg bag of flour, 4-kg edible oil/ghee, 10-kg sugar, 4-kg pulse and 10-kg rice at reduced rates from the utility stores on monthly basis.
He said the scheme would be completed in a phased manner and registration for the first phase in which about two million families would benefit had already started.
In the second phase, which would start from April around 1.5 million families would get the benefit, while in the third phase, which would commence from July around 3.3 million families will get relief.