By Suraj Narine
Local retailers continue to jack-up prices for selected items on the heels of Guyana confirming its first Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) case.
Following media reports of the confirmation yesterday, Guyanese flocked stores countrywide to procure items such as hand-sanitizers, disinfectant sprays, wipes, facemasks and gloves. Consumers were seen queuing up at several pharmacies this morning. Persons were also seen wearing face masks and gloves as they traversed city streets. Taxi drivers are also taking precautions, as many were seen at the Car Park in the Stabroek Square donning gloves and face masks.
This instant demand for such items has now led to some local retailers increasing their prices – in some instances – by 100%, the Guyana Standard confirmed.
Even as this continues in and around the Capital, the Guyana Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (GC&CAC) has no legal backings to stop it.
According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Allison Parker, the agency is not authorised to intervene in cases of ‘price-gouging’; noting that the laws do not cater for such an occurrence, and remedies for same. There are, however, provisions that address the issue of ‘price-fixing’ – which is not what is occurring now.
She explained that price- fixing is an agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given level by controlling supply and demand. On the other hand, price- gouging refers to when a seller increases the prices of goods, services or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair, and is considered exploitative.
Parker, in a subsequent statement to the media noted that the GC&CAC can only use moral suasion in its appeal to suppliers to revert to the common prices for the items they are now gouging on.
“…It is morally wrong to take advantage of consumers during any national emergency, in this case, that of a possible public health crisis. We again appeal to suppliers to put your countrymen/people over excessive profit,” Parker wrote on behalf on the commission.
Meanwhile, distributors of items in demand have stated that they are not the ones inflating prices. A representative of Beepat’s, the sole distributor for Lysol products, told the Guyana Standard that it is still selling its products at the same price.
