Business leaders yesterday expressed anger over extortion in the supply chain of commodities, pinning the nuisance as a major barrier to containing the prices of essentials.

Traders are forced to pay money at multiple stages to bring a product from the grass root level to the wholesale markets in the divisional cities, said Saidur Rahman, general secretary of Karwan Bazar Kanchamal Arod Malik Samity, at a meeting organised by the country's apex trade body.

The meeting, which took place at the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry's office in the capital's Motijheel, was to review the production, import, storage, supply and prices of essential commodities ahead of Ramadan.

Extortion takes place when a commodity-carrying transport enters the upazila towns from village markets, Rahman said.

"When the truck enters a district town from upazila, another round of extortion takes place. When the truck enters the highway, there is another round. The final round of extortion takes place when the truck enters the divisional cities."

As a result, the transport cost of the products increases, Rahman said.

Even when buying from the wholesale markets, the retailers have to pay Tk 200 just to load the goods onto the trucks, said Md Salahuddin, president of New Market Kanchabazar Babosayi Samity.

FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam warned that stern action will be taken against the extortionists with the help of the relevant authorities of the government if the traders report any incidents of extortion at any stage of the supply chain.

A hotline will be opened to receive extortion-related complaints.

"The complaints will be dealt with instantly," Alam said.

Apart from the extortion issues, traders also blamed the middlemen of the supply chain for the higher prices of the essential commodities.

A product changes hands at least four times before coming to the wholesale markets. Due to the presence of the middlemen, the prices of the products increase abnormally.

A strong market monitoring system would have kept the presence of middlemen in check, they said.

Monitoring should be strengthened so that there is no abnormal difference in the prices of products from the wholesale market to the retail level, Alam said.

Action will be taken against those who create artificial crises and extortion in the market, said Amin Helali, a senior vice-president of the FBCCI.

At the meeting, representatives of the producers and suppliers of the different products have assured that the prices of essential commodities will not increase as there is enough stock at present.

There will be no shortage of onions in the market during the upcoming Ramadan as new onions will hit the market in the next 10 days, said Haji Majed, vice-president of Shyambazar Agricultural Commodity Traders Association.

It is not possible to bring down the price of dates as its import duty is almost double the actual price, said Sirajul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Fresh Fruits Importer Association.

To import a kilogram of dates at Tk 110, a Tk 140 duty has to be paid.

"That is why the price of dates is so high in the market," he added.

Traders have to pay Tk 43 tax to import a kg of sugar, said Golam Mawla, president of Bangladesh Wholesale Edible Oil Traders Association.

"On the one hand, the government is talking about raising taxes and on the other hand, they are talking about controlling the market. Keeping two policies at a time will not yield any benefit," he said.