Govt shuts down utility stores across Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has officially ceased the operations of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) of Pakistan (Pvt) Limited across the country.

According to an internal notification issued on Thursday by the General Manager of Stores Operations and Services (SO&S), all sales and purchase activities at utility stores across the country have been terminated with immediate effect from July 31, 2025.

The directive also applies to the procurement of goods and inventory handling, with the exception of stock shifting to warehouses, return to vendors, and internal inventory reconciliation.

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The decision stems from the Prime Minister’s instructions dated June 28 and the outcome of the 190th meeting of the Board of Directors held on July 2. The move brings an end to decades of subsidised grocery operations at government-run outlets that served millions of low-income households nationwide.

“All zonal managers are hereby directed to ensure strict compliance,” the notification read. Internal monitoring teams have been deployed to supervise the closure process and oversee the handing over of inventories.

The Utility Stores Corporation, operating under the Ministry of Industries and Production, had faced growing financial challenges and criticism over alleged mismanagement and inefficiencies in recent years.

The decision to shutter its operations is expected to be part of a broader reform package aimed at restructuring federal subsidies and rationalising state-owned enterprises.

Future of utility stores employees

No official word has yet been issued regarding the future of the USC’s employees, who have been holding sit-in protest in Islamabad against the closure of stores across the country since the proposal was moved by the government.

According to the Utility Stores Joint Action Committee, workers from all over Pakistan are in the capital to participate in the protest. The committee had announced that the sit-in will continue until their demands are met.

In a strong statement last week, the committee said that shutting down the utility stores would be like handing over 260 million citizens to the “mafias of inflation.”

Additionally, the government had not publicised any alternative plans before shutting down the utility stores to provide affordable essential commodities to economically vulnerable segments of the population.