|
Heavier
fines by a stricter CAA for errant traders
By Uditha Jayasinghe
Sharpening their teeth the Consumer Affairs
Authority (CAA) is planning to increase fines from Rs.1,500
to a minimum of Rs.100,000 under new amendments proposed for
a fresh bill.
The new bill, which has been in the pipeline for years, also
includes more powers of investigation and even reduction of
fixed retail prices at CAA discretion. The Act has been sent
to the Attorney Generals Department to be drawn out before
being presented to Parliament. The current CAA Act, No.9 of
2003, was viewed as having insufficient teeth prompting the
authority to draft out a new bill, remarked CAA Chairman Rumy
Marzook.
He also told The Bottom Line that, under the new amendments,
fines would be increased significantly with the lowest tagged
at Rs.100,000; thus giving the CAA powers to demand larger
amounts as fines from unscrupulous traders. It would also
give the organisation stronger investigative powers to bring
traders that engage in anti-competitive practices to book.
“These
are improvements on the earlier Act that was brought in 2003.
Often, our officials are hampered by inadequate legal powers
when they apprehend traders who are selling sub standard products.
But, we hope with the infusion of this new Act, we will have
the power to act more decisively. The fines will also be imposed
according to the number of times the said offense has been
committed, which will prompt traders to be more careful,”
he said.
The Chairman remarked that the current fines of Rs.1,000 or
Rs.1,500 were woefully inadequate to curb trader malpractices
and that the new Act would rectify this. He also stressed
that they would have the power to reduce maximum retail prices
if the Authority considered it unfair.
Currently, only private companies that sell products on the
CAA list of essential items need permission from the organisation
in order to increase prices. This is done after the CAA Board
of Directors deliberate on a pricing application submitted
by the company. The CAA must respond within thirty days, or,
the company can increase prices to the amount specified in
the application.
One of the main shortcomings of the essential items list is
that it is not expansive enough to include many of the necessary
items subject to inflation. However, Mr. Marzook noted that
the current list of just 16 items would not be expanded under
the new Act.
|
