USC to lay off 6,000 workers as privatisation delayed until August 2025

(Web Desk): The government has decided to place 5,000 permanent employees of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) into a surplus pool, while 6,000 contract and daily-wage workers will be laid off. This decision was shared in a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production.

The meeting, chaired by Senator Aoun Abbas, discussed the future of USC, revealing that the corporation is on the government’s privatisation list. The USC's Managing Director informed the committee that the privatisation process had been delayed due to the absence of a two-year audit. The privatisation will move forward once the audit is completed, with a target completion date of August 2025.

The Director also mentioned that, in the meantime, 5,000 permanent employees will be moved to a surplus pool, and 6,000 contract and daily-wage workers will be laid off. These workers will not receive severance packages when the corporation is privatised. USC currently runs more than 3,200 stores across the country, with 1,700 unprofitable stores expected to close. After privatisation, only about 1,500 stores will remain open, and these will require staff. Additionally, there are around 1,000 franchises operating under USC.

The corporation's monthly operational cost was previously Rs1.12 billion, but after shutting down the unprofitable stores, this has been reduced to Rs520 million per month.

During the meeting, committee members expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar and the Secretary, who were supposed to brief the committee on the Sugar Advisory Board’s role and functions. As a result, the committee decided to summon the Competition Commission in the next session.

Senator Aoun Abbas raised concerns about the rising sugar prices, despite a surplus in the country’s sugar stock. He pointed out that 44% of Pakistan’s sugar mills are owned by political families and questioned why sugar prices were increasing when there was enough sugar supply. He also noted that the government had allowed the export of 700,000 tons of sugar this fiscal year. Senator Abbas explained that sugar mill owners tend to increase prices near the end of the crushing season and called for an explanation from the Competition Commission and sugar mill owners about the price hike. The committee plans to invite the Competition Commission and sugar mill owners to clarify the issue of rising sugar prices.