Sanctions can reach up to 100,000 euros for each unreasonably increased product. This was stated in the program “This Saturday“ on bTV by Alexander Kolyachev, Chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC).
According to the latest legal changes of August 9, the CPC now has more powers to control unjustified price increases. The Commission has the right to assess whether the increase in price corresponds to the costs and whether there is an economic factor for it.
“The first difference is that we no longer monitor whether the price in euros and in leva is correctly written on the labels. It no longer exists in most stores, but it is not prohibited if it continues to be placed there as a guide for consumers.“, shared Kolyachev.
According to him, the second difference is the increase in sanctions. “They are now much more serious than before. Back then, the minimum sanction was 5,000 leva for an unjustified price increase, equivalent to 2,500 euros. Now the minimum sanction is 10,000 euros. This applies to each specific product and each specific facility that the commercial company has“.
“If you have 40 stores in which you sell at the same unjustified inflated price, this means that you will have 40 stores with a minimum sanction of 10,000 euros. They can even reach up to 100,000 euros for each specific product“, Kolyachev pointed out.
“The sanction regime is the tool that will give retailers enough ambition to comply with the law and not raise their prices unreasonably. We have already launched inspections in a number of sectors“, he commented.
He explained that this week they had downloaded information from 40 online stores. “At the same time, we are also checking prices in physical stores, we are requiring information from companies on the justification of prices“.
“We have launched inspections in many different sectors. We are requiring a very large, wide range of products. We monitor, request data on their prices and where there is an increase, we begin to analyze whether it is justified or not“, said Kolyachev.
Currently, the CPC largely compares prices of tiles, building materials, tools and others.
“We observe an increase in the prices of private kindergartens, private schools, a wide variety of courses designed for children, sports facilities, indoor swimming pools, all kinds of training, because we believe that this is one of the many factors that influence our perception of high prices. It's not just cheese and oil“, he pointed out.
According to Kolyachev, the sanction regime was not sufficiently respectful of traders. “We imposed a sanction of 15 thousand euros on a huge parking lot. This did not bother the owner, because he, having raised his prices by two during the time he had the raised prices, managed to earn more than this sanction“.
“The same is true for large retail chains, which suffer sanctions of 2,500-10,000 euros in some individual cases, which does not deter them. Some sanctions must have a deterrent effect. These envisaged sanctions will have such an effect. We can all be sure“, he pointed out.
According to him, the objective economic factors related to the increase in the final value of the product are taken into account. “There are inflationary processes. There are external factors that do not depend on the trader - taxes, wage increases, electricity costs, consumables, production costs in some cases, general expenses, delivery prices“.
“The most logical explanation for your price increase is when the delivery price increases for the relevant products. Of course, this is permissible to be reflected in the final selling price. But when the delivery price has increased by one unit, the final price cannot increase by two units“.