LAHORE - The Sunday Bazaars are losing utility rapidly due to poor 'price monitoring system by the price control committees of City District Government Lahore (CDGL), revealed a survey conducted by The Nation. One the other hand authorities have claimed to cut prices of commodities in all the Sunday Bazaars of the City and District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta had repeatedly said in this regard that the district administration had mechanism to keep check over the shopkeepers and the prices of the commodities available in the Sunday Bazaars. District administration established an alert monitoring system in this regard for keeping eye on the activities of the vendors and the officials of CDGL as well, he added. He said officials of quality control committees also used to check quality of products time and again and in case of any violation; they initiate action against guilty vendors. However, a number of consumers pinpointed the poor flaws in the system while expressing their grievances in the 'Sunday Bazaar complaint books and demanded the authorities to improve and tight price monitoring system in order to control the prices of the commodities. In this regard Ali Raza, a consumer complained, If the Sunday Bazaars are not cheaper than the other markets of the City then no need to set up such bazaars. He said Sunday Bazaars perhaps were being introduced by the govt in order to facilitate the poor consumers but the goal could not be achieved which was a failure of the planners and other authorities concerned which had lost control over the rates of the commodities available in Sunday Bazaars. The government established such Sunday Bazaars claiming 'sasta bazaars and also constituted various committees with ensuring provision of all daily use items on cheap rates in order to give relief to the masses while output of such bazaars was against the desires of the masses because rates of the items were very high while quality was poor. Usually the vendors also claimed to cut prices of most of the commodities according to the rate lists with claiming quality but as they failed to provide quality products to the consumers in Sunday bazaars and continued selling substandard products particularly fruits and vegetables with charging rates of quality goods and such practice remained unchecked by the authorities concerned, complained Muha-mmad Ali, another consumer. Most of the consumers also complained overcharging by the vendors with selling substandard commodities in almost all the Sunday Bazaars of the City. They said stallholders and handcart vendors were fleecing the consumers. On the other hand some vendors while justifying overcharging said that they compelled to sale commodities, varying the governments rate lists because vendors also purchase products on soaring rates from the retailers and growers. However, an official on duty while requesting anonymity said that the vendors usually increase the rates of various commodities in violation of the rate lists, issued by the government, which in fact troubled the poor consumers.