ISLAMABAD: The federal government has begun the process of privatising the Utility Stores Corporation (USC), prompting nationwide protests and the closure of nearly half of the outlets across the country, sources confirmed on Monday.
As part of a major downsizing effort, the USC has laid off over 2,800 contractual employees, with plans underway to forcibly retire more than 5,000 permanent staff members. Additionally, sources revealed that 509 more contract workers are expected to be dismissed in the coming weeks.
This move falls under the second phase of the federal government’s wider privatisation initiative and has triggered severe backlash from USC employees. In response, nearly 1,800 of the country’s 3,542 utility stores have already shut their doors in protest.
Officials from the Ministry of Industries and Production said the downsizing is part of ongoing restructuring, following minimal response to previously offered voluntary separation and golden handshake schemes.
Prior to the latest wave of terminations, USC had already dismissed approximately 3,000 daily-wage workers. The total workforce has since been reduced from 9,294 to 6,484, though 654 employees have reportedly returned after securing legal relief.
Of the total outlets, 2,539 fall under the category of regular utility stores, according to internal assessments.
The USC is also facing serious financial hurdles. Despite a federal allocation of Rs60 billion for the current fiscal year — including Rs10 billion for a Ramadan relief package and Rs50 billion in regular grants — not a single rupee has reportedly been released to the corporation so far.
Adding to the uncertainty, the corporation’s financial accounts for the years 2022–23 and 2023–24 remain unaudited. Officials say a financial advisor for the privatisation process will only be appointed once the audit is complete.
The Privatisation Commission has confirmed that USC’s privatisation is part of the government’s broader second-phase strategy to offload state-owned enterprises.
