Harsher penalties should be imposed on traders who are overcharging consumers.
That's the call of the Consumer Council of Fiji as it said amongst other items, prices of all sporting equipment have still not gone down following the announcement of duty reduction by government.
Chief Executive Officer Premila Kumar said the Health Ministry based on non-communicable diseases had proposed for reduction in duty for all sporting equipment however this has not happened.
She warned consumers to beware when buying gifts for loved ones this Christmas as surveys have shown that prices of some items have increased by up to 84% compared to last year.
Kumar said they collected Christmas catalogues from last year and compared the prices from catalogues this year and found that prices of watches and perfumes went up from 5% to 84%.
Kumar added thatd some traders are allegedly cheating the consumers as costs should have come down instead as the Government had announced a reduction in fiscal duty from 15% to zero percent last year.
She recommends that the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority should monitor prices and the tourist refund scheme should be cancelled of those traders who do not follow the government's directive.
A total of 41 items were surveyed.
Story by: Ronal Deo
