Serious concerns have been raised by the Consumer Council of Fiji that there are many traders and service providers who engage in unfair trade practices.
CEO Premila Kumar said this involves the selling of counterfeit products by some traders as genuine to make profit.
Kumar said recently they unveiled a case where a trader has been selling Cebo sandals as a genuine product made in the Czech Republic.
According to the council, upon investigation it was found the sandals were coming from China and sold at a price that matches the price of genuine sandals.
Kumar added some manufacturers and suppliers are selling twin pack toilet papers which are less by 30%-40%.
Kumar said when they asked the traders to compensate people, they said it is difficult to track consumers.
She added consumers who have been defrauded lose faith in the economic system.
The Consumer Council has received a total of 1,995 complaints from January to October this year which is worth over $2 million.
Story by: Dhanjay Deo
