Punjab Allows Shopkeepers to Fix Their Own Chicken Prices
With a policy change, the state has ended a very old method of fixing prices of chicken meat, moving the powers of setting Chicken Prices to all shopkeepers and market forces. This is a great turning point for the province’s poultry sector, consumers, and regulations as they will address long-standing issues of price fluctuations, enforcement challenges, and discontentment across stakeholders. The Punjab government has disengaged official price control over chicken in the territory and has allowed poultry traders to fix their rates post Eid al-Fitr. Chicken meat, as it now stands, is subject to a regulated price of Rs 595 per kilogram.
However, the actual change had been confirmed by a government notification dated April 4, 2025. The order, which was issued by the Director General (Research), Provincial Controller General of Prices, was sent to all deputy commissioners as well as district-level price controllers.
پنجاب حکومت نے مرغی کے گوشت کی سرکاری قیمت مقرر کرنے کا نظام ختم کر دیا ہے۔ اب دکاندار اور مارکیٹ قوتیں خود قیمت طے کریں گی۔ اس فیصلے سے قیمتوں میں اتار چڑھاؤ، عمل درآمد کے مسائل اور متعلقہ فریقوں کی ناراضگی جیسے دیرینہ مسائل حل ہوں گے۔ یہ پالیسی تبدیلی عید الفطر کے بعد لاگو ہوگی، جس کی تصدیق 4 اپریل 2025 کو جاری کردہ نوٹیفکیشن سے ہوئی۔
Poultry Price Control
For an extended period, the Punjab government maintained official price fixation based on the cost of goods and services. The Deputy Commissioner kept the retailers on notice by issuing daily or weekly rate lists and enforcing the sale of chicken at government-determined prices. Such laws seek to protect consumers from price exploitation and allow consumers an affordable alternative, especially during peak demand seasons like Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr.
Shopkeeper non-compliance: Shopkeepers were selling chicken at rates above the official pricing, citing different reasons for high procurement costs while enforcing.
Enforcement gaps: The Existence of viable authorities to enforce the DC rate list has made it quite plausible for consumers to be affected by incidences of price surge.
Market distortions: Price fixing often diverged from market realities, creating a shortage of supply and an outlet for the black-market.
Price spikes and stakeholders protests
By early 2025, the prices of chicken meat had gone on a big rise in Punjab. While the DC Lahore’s rate list fixed a price of Rs595 per kg, it was deemed that the actual market prices ranged between Rs700 and Rs780 per kg. In Rawalpindi, the difference was extreme; live chickens went for Rs550 per kg, meat for Rs850 per kg, while its official rate was Rs435 per kg.
Retailers and the Poultry Retailers Association called for protests and strikes, particularly in Rawalpindi, against official rates that burden them with losses, mainly during purchase at wholesale rates exceeding government-mandated retail prices.
If they were to sell chicken at official rates, they would be forced to sell at a loss. The high costs of feed, chicks, and wholesale are the real issues for them. The retailers should not be punished; instead, the government has to intervene and deal chiefly with supply-chain costs.
Policy Shift: Fix Chicken Prices
On the 4th of April in the year 2025, the Punjab government formally Allowed the fixing of prices for chicken meat. The new policy will henceforth involve:
- Only the prices for chicken of live meat would be notified by the government.
- The prices of meat (processed and retail) would the determined by the market, i.e., shopkeepers and demand-supply dynamics.
- This decision was made in the 6th meeting of the prices for chicken Council and communicated to all deputy commissioners and rate controllers across the province.
اپریل 2025 کو پنجاب حکومت نے مرغی کے گوشت کی قیمتوں کے تعین کی نئی پالیسی کی منظوری دی۔ اب صرف زندہ مرغی کی قیمت حکومت مقرر کرے گی، جبکہ پروسیسڈ اور ریٹیل گوشت کی قیمتیں مارکیٹ کی طلب و رسد اور دکاندار طے کریں گے۔ یہ فیصلہ مرغی کی قیمتوں سے متعلق چھٹی کونسل میٹنگ میں کیا گیا اور صوبے بھر کے ڈپٹی کمشنرز اور ریٹ کنٹرولرز کو اس حوالے سے باقاعدہ اطلاع دی گئی۔
Reasons for the Decision
Governance challenges: The continuous failure of the rates to be implemented revealed flaws within the regulatory framework.
Market transparency: When prices are allowed to be determined by market forces, it is thought that they will reflect actual supply-demand conditions, thereby reducing black-market activity.
Industry sustainability: This policy aims to relieve pressure on retailers and suppliers, thereby allowing them to break even and earn a profit.
Focus on live chicken: By only fixing live chicken rates, the government reserves the right to monitor and influence the base cost while avoiding micromanagement of the entire value chain.
Conclusion
Punjab’s move allowing shopkeepers to set their prices for chicken is a historic breakaway from decades of direct intervention by the government. While this move is expected to bring about greater transparency and sustainability to the poultry sector, it also creates new challenges regarding price volatility and market supervision. The success of this policy would be predicated on the government’s ability to monitor live chicken rates, address underlying cost drivers, and maintain a conducive environment for competition. In the end, this departure represents a larger trend toward market-friendly solutions in Pakistan’s essentials sector, designed to serve the competing interests of consumers, shopkeepers, and producers in an ever-changing economic landscape.
