Amid soaring prices for nearly all kitchen items, the government has formed 37 market monitoring teams to oversee prices in the capital -- a common measure by the authorities that has previously yielded little to no significant results.
The committees, each comprising seven members from different ministries and public agencies, will launch anti-price manipulation drives on August 1 and continue until June next year.
Apart from conducting on-spot mobile courts, the teams will collect price data and gather information on the stock and supply of essentials during the drives, said a senior commerce ministry official.
In current July, prices of some key essentials surged by 50 to 120 per cent.
Rice, eggs, lentils, all vegetables, potatoes, onions, green chilli, fish and other items saw an abnormal price increase in the past two weeks. Green chilli even reached an all-time high of Tk 600 per kg, while eggs hit Tk 190 per dozen.
Traders solely blamed the ongoing anti-quota turmoil and movement restrictions across the country for the July price hikes.
The commerce ministry official said the teams would take action by punishing traders or businesspeople through on-the-spot mobile courts if market conditions become abnormal.
These teams include representatives from the ministries of commerce, agriculture, food, Dhaka South and North City Corporation, Dhaka Metropolitan Police and the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection.
The additional or joint secretary (IIT) of the Ministry of Commerce will coordinate the teams.
"The commerce ministry regularly oversees and examines essential item prices in the capital city. We take necessary steps based on market needs throughout the year," an additional commerce ministry secretary told The Financial Express on Monday.
However, supply chain experts said a lack of market monitoring encouraged traders in many places to capitalise on the supply chain disruptions during the quota conflict.
Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, secretary of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said it is completely illogical for prices of certain items to increase by 50 to 120 per cent in just one or two days at the start of the curfew.
However, some essential prices have declined to some extent after reaching a peak, but remain much higher, commented Mr Bhuiyan.
He said there were also monitoring teams previously but consumers saw few benefits. No visible impact on the prices of some key items, especially rice, potatoes, eggs and onions, has been observed in recent times despite efforts by the monitoring teams.
However, a senior commerce ministry official claimed that essential commodity prices remain stable due to government actions.
He acknowledged that one or two item prices might spike temporarily due to natural calamities like floods or heavy rain.
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