Utility Stores Corporation Closed 2025
The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has been fully wound up — its operations ceased on 31 July 2025 and a formal nationwide closure was announced on 31 August 2025. The old utility-store subsidy model is over; instead, eligible families now receive targeted cash support, with the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as the country’s primary social-protection platform.
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Timeline of the closure: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the winding up of the Utility Stores Corporation on 28 June 2025, the USC board endorsed the decision on 2 July 2025, all operations ceased on 31 July 2025, and Federal Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhary announced the formal nationwide closure on 31 August 2025.
About 11,350 USC employees were affected — around 5,250 regular, 3,300 contractual and 2,800 daily-wage workers, according to ECC figures. On 28 August 2025 the Economic Coordination Committee approved a Rs 30.216 billion severance package — the largest voluntary separation scheme in Pakistan’s history and the first to include contractual and daily-wage staff. A union-consensus package of Rs 28.2 billion was separately announced on 31 August.
As of October 2026, the Utility Stores Corporation is defunct and its assets are being auctioned. The store-based subsidy has been replaced by targeted cash transfers, with BISP as the primary social-protection platform — beneficiaries now receive cash relief directly instead of subsidised store goods.
The federal government has completed the winding up of the Utility Stores Corporation. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the closure plan on 28 June 2025, the USC board endorsed it on 2 July 2025, operations ceased on 31 July 2025, and the formal nationwide shutdown was announced on 31 August 2025.
With the stores closed, eligible families no longer rely on subsidised store goods. Instead, relief now reaches them as targeted cash transfers through the Benazir Income Support Programme, which is the country’s primary social-protection platform.
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Cash Relief Through BISP
The old utility-store subsidy has been replaced by direct cash support. Under the new arrangement, BISP beneficiaries receive cash relief directly, which they can spend on the essential items of their choice.
بے نظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام کی جانب سے یہ ایک بڑا اعلان ہے کہ مستحق افراد کو سبسڈی حاصل نہیں ہو سکے گی۔ بی ائی ایس پی کے تحت اٹے کا تھیلا 1500 روپے کا ملے گا اور گھی کی قیمتوں میں مزید اضافہ کیا ہے اب 380 کی بجائے ۴۵۰ فراہم کیا جائے گا۔ وزیراعظم نے یوٹیلٹی سٹور کارپوریشن ختم کرنے کے حوالے سے کئی تجاویز پیش کی ہیں ، وفاقی حکومت نے یوٹیلٹی سٹور کے لیے 50 ارب روپے کی سبسڈی اب ختم کر دی ہے ۔ وزیراعظم کی ہدایات پر دو ہفتے میں یوٹیلٹی سٹور پر سبزی حاصل نہیں ہوگی۔
غربت کا شکار افراد کو یوٹیلیٹی اسٹورز سے آٹا ،چینی ،گھی اب مہنگے داموں خریدنا پڑے گا، بینظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام کی جابن سے چینی 109 کی بجائے 155 روپے کلو کردی ہے ۔ وزیراعظم میاں محمد شہباز شریف نے یوٹیلٹی اسٹورز کارپوریشن ختم کرنے کیحوالے سے تجاویز بھی طلب کر لیں ، وفاقی حکومت کی جانب سے یوٹیلٹی اسٹورزکیلئے 50 ارب کی سبسڈی بھی بند کردی گئی ۔
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Utility Stores Corporation Wound Up
The price lists of the old subsidy era — including the reduced sugar, flour and ghee rates — no longer apply, because the Utility Stores Corporation has been wound up. Beneficiaries now receive cash through BISP instead of store-based subsidies.
The Rs 50 billion utility-store subsidy has been discontinued and the corporation wound up. Poor families now get their support as cash transfers through BISP rather than subsidised goods at stores.
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Cash Relief for Poor Families
Eligible families should not worry: the government has replaced the utility-store subsidy with targeted cash relief through the Benazir Income Support Programme, so support continues in the form of direct payments.
Final Words:
The winding up of the Utility Stores Corporation in July–August 2025 marks a major shift in how Pakistan delivers relief to poor families. Instead of store-based subsidies, beneficiaries now receive targeted cash transfers through BISP, the country’s primary social-protection platform.
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Sources: Geo News reported the government’s closure announcement, and The News reported the Rs 30.216bn severance plan approved by the ECC.
Related reading: check your BISP 8171 registration and CNIC status online, and learn about the factors that can disqualify you from Benazir Kafalat.