More than half of the complaints received by the Fiji Competition and Consumer Commission during the 2023-2024 financial year were related to price-controlled products.
This was highlighted during FCCC's submission of its annual report to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs.
FCCC says it received and investigated a total of 888 consumer and market complaints during the reporting period.
They says 517 complaints were linked to breaches of regulations, including traders failing to display prices, not issuing receipts and breaking pricing rules.
FCCC says complaints involving price-controlled products made up around 58 percent of all complaints received.
The Commission also received 279 complaints about unfair trading practices, including traders accepting payments but failing to provide goods and services as promised, as well as misleading advertisements.
They also received 92 tenancy-related complaints involving issues such as failure to issue receipts, lack of tenancy agreements and disputed evictions.
FCCC says during the reporting period, court cases resulted in penalties of about $86,000, while consumer compensation and settlements exceeded $100,000.
The Commission says they will continue expanding its inspection, surveillance and awareness programmes across the country to strengthen compliance and outreach efforts.
