The Rawalpindi district administration and the food department have announced a ban on the distribution of subsidized wheat to traders who do not possess identity cards or telephone numbers.
According to reports, an order has been issued, stating that retailers and stall owners who fail to present their ID cards and phone numbers will not receive inexpensive flour.
Furthermore, it is mandatory to collect identification card and phone number information from all men and women who purchase cheap flour from supermarket merchants and stall owners. It is also illegal to sell cheap flour to children.
Grocers have opposed the restriction on cheap flour, with one particular merchant, Mahmood Ali, claiming that the profit on a single flour sack is just Rs. 10 and that he would have to hire a worker with a monthly salary of Rs. 20,000 to register each customer’s cellphone and identity card information.
He also expressed concern that the prohibition would deprive 70 percent of deserving people of inexpensive flour, and that women would be unwilling to provide this information owing to privacy concerns.