Fruit and veggie vendors have hiked rates, complain customers in Chandigarh

After the municipal corporation (MC) discontinued the use of Chandigarh Transport Union (CTU) buses to supply vegetables and fruits, complaints have come in of vendors not charging rates fixed by the UT market committee daily and increasing prices.

A round of the city revealed that most vendors were marking up prices by at least Rs 10 for bananas, melons, watermelons, potatoes and onions. They also did not have rate lists on display.

“What is the point of issuing a rate list if vendors don’t comply with it? They are rude to us when we mention the rates fixed by the market committee and refuse to sell to us,” says Ashok Prashar, president, HIG flats resident welfare association (RWA), Sector 43-B.

He claims he was charged Rs 40 over and above the given rate per kilo for items such as ginger and capsicum.

MANY VENDORS WITHOUT PERMITS

“There is a major problem with illegal vendors coming into sectors without permits and charging what they fancy. They use rehris (carts). We have informed the police many times about them, but no action is taken,” says Kuljinder Singh Sra, general secretary, Sector 33-B RWA.

Hitesh Puri, chairman, Chandigarh Residents’ Association Welfare Federation (CRAWFED), said he would request the MC and UT market committee to resolve the issue.

When questioned, the vendors said they were compelled to increase prices as wholesale mandis were charging more, a claim refuted by an official of the UT market committee. “Some vendors without passes buy vegetables and fruits from middlemen who overcharge them and they pass on the costs to customers,” said an official who did not wish to be named.

PLEA TO REINTRODUCE CTU BUSES

Meanwhile, Ajay Jagga, member, District Consumer Protection Council, has written to UT adviser Manoj Parida asking that CTU buses continue to sell farm produce even after easing of the lockdown. “The CTU as well as the market committee benefited from the arrangement. The presence of an official on the bus will ensure that vendors won’t hike their rates,” he said.

Parida’s response, however, was that the buses were used earlier since markets were closed, but now with easing of restrictions, people could go to mandis to buy what they wanted. The buses had to be operated as public transportation.