Consumers call for protection against price gouging

Mar 18, 2022 News

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– bemoan hiked prices for food, other items

Kaieteur News – The high cost of living might be heavy on the minds of consumers, but so too is the actions of some unscrupulous business owners who are engaged in price gouging.
Some persons who spoke with the Kaieteur Newspaper are calling on the relevant authorities to address the matter as they say the ongoing practice is adding unwanted strain on the already severe financial situation. Kaieteur News was told that while the economic changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has been recognised, it appears that some shopkeepers are taking prices even higher now, owing to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Paula Hutson, a 45-year-old mother of two told the Kaieteur News that she believes something must be done to ease the strain that persons like her is feeling. The housewife told Kaieteur News that since her husband is the sole breadwinner for the home, they are facing hardships as a result of increased prices for goods. “What I don’t understand is how come one place selling for one price and the next place selling two and three times.” Hutson said she is originally from Port Kaituma, but moved to Georgetown after she lost her home to a fire.
Since then, the woman said, things have been challenging for her family who depends heavily on financial support from overseas. “It’s been hard, ”Hutson said, “cause during the pandemic we had to wait on money from outside.” The woman said however, that even with her husband back out to work, the price of goods continues to present a challenge in catering for the home.
Another consumer, who gave the name Shawn, also complained about the increase in the cost of goods. The man said that he too understands that food prices have increased globally but argued, “…that does not mean that we can’t get some help.” “So what if the price keeps going up, then what gone happen, we gone can’t eat.”
Shawn told the newspaper that he knows some vendors are deliberately increasing their prices higher than it should be because, “if ya go to one shop, ya might get some greens for one price and the same greens, but a smaller amount for the same price or something more. Same way ya go in the shop, one telling ya $120, $140 fuh something and another shop telling ya $200 and $300 for de same thing.” “I really think they should do something about it,” the man urged.
Kaieteur News was told however, that the pricing of goods is a decision made by vendors. The Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCCA) told the publication that while some persons may believe that the body has regulatory powers to deal with matters of price gouging, the commission does not perform that oversight role.
The agency’s Public Relations Officer, Alison Parker, told the Kaieteur News, “we (CCCA) have no jurisdiction over pricing.” She said that the agency is still being approached by persons expressing concerns about the significant increase in goods, ‘but we do not regulate prices.”
Parker said that the CCCA, although not from a legal standpoint, continues nonetheless to ask the providers of goods and services to do the “moral” thing and not engage in the act of price gouging.
The CCCA had cause to put out a missive just as Guyana had recorded its first COVID-19 case back in 2020 calling on businesses to stop price gouging. The Private Sector Commission had also released a statement condemning the significant increases that businesses had placed on high demand products such as face masks, hand sanitisers and cold medication among others.
The CCCA said at the time that it was in receipt of credible information regarding price gouging on items needed to prevent the spread of the virus. The CCCA said that while it has no legal standing to regulate market prices, it was appealing to the moral standing of suppliers to not take advantage of consumers with exorbitant prices. “We again appeal to suppliers to put your countrymen/people over excessive profit,” the commission had said.
The PSC said too that, “As the threat of the coronavirus induces panic among the general populace, the Private Sector Commission is dismayed at recent claims reported in the media of businesses inflating the prices of necessities needed to combat the coronavirus disease.”
Citizens at the height of COVID-19 fears were paying hundreds and even thousands of dollars more for products costing significantly less. Today, basic foods like oil, flour and sugar has increased. Fruits, vegetables and meats, cooking gas, shipping cost and the price of many other services have risen significantly.

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