The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) is looking into the reasons behind the price of hilsa being sold five times higher than that of farmed fish.
The organisation working to protect the interests of consumers is looking for an answer as to why hilsa is being sold at such an unusual price, according to a high official.
At the same time, DNCRP is also looking into the reasons behind 33 per cent price hike in drinking water.
Director General (Additional Secretary) of DNCRP AHM Shafiquzzaman told The Business Post that they have noticed a sudden increase in bottled water prices in the market.
“I received information that a multinational company started providing 100 per cent commission to wholesalers and retailers. As traders are not selling other bottled waters in the hope of higher commission, other companies have now increased their prices and commission margins,” he said.
He added that there is no logical reason apparent for a sudden 33 per cent increase in the price of water. The interest of the consumer is being undermined in this unreasonable process of price hikes.
In January, all the companies increased the price of half a litre of water bottles from Tk 15 to Tk 20 and one-litre bottles from Tk 20 to Tk 25.
Meanwhile, the price of a two-litre bottle of water was increased in two steps- from Tk 30 to Tk 35 and then to Tk 40. Similarly, the price of a five-litre water bottle has been increased from Tk 75 to Tk 80.
Additionally, the official spoke about the high prices of hilsa in the market.
“While there are production costs of fish farming for pond or enclosure lease, fish hatchery, feed, labour and other requirements, hilsa is extracted from natural sources. Besides, there are risks in fish farming such as disease.
But there is no visible cost in hilsa fishing other than basic requirements. Still, the price of hilsa in peak season is five times more than fish such as Ruhi and Katla, which seems unreasonable to me,” Shafiquzzaman said.
He added that hilsa prices are controlled by the traders at major fish landing centres in Barishal, Chandpur and Barguna’s Pathorghata.
“It is undesirable for hilsa prices to be Tk 1,500-2,000 per kg. We want to look into the increased prices of water and hilsa, but we don't have enough information on this so far,” he added.
According to local market sources, large-sized 1.5-2 kg hilsa are being sold at Tk 1,800-2,200 per kg, while medium-sized 1-1.4 kg ones are being sold for Tk 1,000-1,400 per kg and the less than 1 kg small ones are being sold for 500-1,000 per kg in Dhaka.
In response to a question, the official said, some businessmen are whimsically increasing the prices of products and profiting crores of taka from it.
“Recently, the market of daily commodities like green coconut, egg, onion and chilli has become unstable. We are working to resolve the issues. Last Friday a drive was conducted on the wholesale market of green coconut,” the director general said, adding that the green coconut market is expected to become stable after chilli and eggs.
