Consumer rights and inflated pricing

The Consumer  Affairs Authority (CAA) has been conducting raids at supermarkets, restaurants, and even a train in recent days, for selling overpriced goods, selling without proper labelling and other related violations of the consumer rights laws.

One notable raid was on the restaurant compartment of the Colombo–Jaffna express train after complaints that bottled drinking water was being sold way above the marked retail price. Whereas a bottle of drinking water is marked at Rs. 120, it was being sold for Rs. 150 on the train.

In another raid on a supermarket in the Colombo 3 area, CAA officials found a large stock of food items displayed for sale without essential consumer details such as importer information, Maximum Retail Price (MRP), batch numbers, manufacturing and expiry dates, and ingredient lists.

These are just two instances where the consumer protection watchdog body has been able to expose those cheating consumers.

Recently the Co-operative Development Deputy Minister Upali Samarasinghe said that the Ministry is considering registering all shops in the country under the CAA in a move to regulate prices of goods,

He told the Parliament that prices of goods are increased soon after fuel prices are increased but prices of goods are not reduced when fuel prices are reduced and hence the Ministry is planning to introduce a mechanism to address this issue after the registration of shops under the CAA.

Consumers will welcome any such moves, as they are the ones who are unfairly fleeced by unscrupulous traders.

There are shops, restaurants, cafes, and even supermarkets opening in different parts of the county. They attract a large crowd of consumers but in many places, there is no value for money particularly in food outlets .There are numerous places, where food and drinks are sold at highly inflated  prices and the CAA has carried out raids on some of them. These include cinema halls. The fact that movie goers are not allowed to bring outside food means they are forced to buy at a highly inflated price whatever is available at the cinema food outlets.

The hike in fuel and gas prices means prices of cooked food as well as bakeries increase at the whim and fancy of the traders, but consumers rarely get the benefit of price reductions.

It is true that different eateries attract people from different economic groups and consumers have to pay for luxuries such as air conditioning, better seating, ambiance etc., but there should be a limit on how much even the fancy places charge from consumers. Sadly, with no proper regulations governing pricing, consumers are forced to dish out exorbitant prices for average goods.

The same is true of supermarkets that have been found to be selling expired or overpriced goods. Unless consumers do their shopping with a hawk’s eye on the goods, they can easily get cheated.

While selling over the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) is a serious offence under the law, there are many places that do so, despite warnings by the CAA. Given that carrying out regular raids is not feasible given the shortage of personnel, the CAA acts mainly on public complaints.

The public has an important role to play in ensuring fair trade practices. They should be vigilant and not hesitate to lodge a complaint with the CAA when they encounter unfair trade practices, which cheat them of their hard-earned money.

Traders too need to be conscientious and not only be driven by profits. Unfair trade practices may yield short term profits, but once consumers understand they are being cheated, and it’s unlikely they will patronise such establishments. Traders should guarantee fair pricing so that the consumers don’t get a raw deal and they too make profits which will be a win-win situation for all.