Businesses warned against illegal price hikes

No one is allowed to increase the cost of food, products or transport fares, apart from electricity charges from next Tuesday, the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned.

The commission has cautioned businesses, including taxi and minibus operators, against using next Tuesday’s electricity and bus fare increases as an excuse to unlawfully raise their own prices.

FCCC teams are currently monitoring markets nationwide.

FCCC chief executive officer Senikavika Jiuta said any business found unfairly increasing prices would face scrutiny and possible action.

“If there’s an unfair increase of like 100 per cent, 150 per cent in prices of goods, we’ll have to come in, analyse, and then assess,” Ms Jiuta said.

She specifically warned taxi and minibus operators that they had no approval to increase fares because no formal submissions had been made to the FCCC.

“If they are increasing the fare from the normal drivers, please report it to us. They shouldn’t be,” Ms Jiuta said.

The FCCC is also part of the Price Monitoring and Enforcement Task Force, led by the Ministry of Finance and involving the Consumer Council, monitoring freight costs, fertiliser prices and basic goods for any illegal or excessive price increases.

Ms Jiuta urged members of the public to report any overcharging to the FCCC through mobile number 8921991 or email helpdesk@fccc.gov.fj.

The FCCC Western Division office can be reached on 8911623 and the Northern Division office on 8911624.

Ms Jiuta also urged Fijians to use electricity wisely during the current crisis.

“Switch off lights when you’re not using them. You don’t need to use those appliances. Right now we’re going through a really difficult time, and we all just need to be smart about how we use our electricity,” she said.