Lyudmila is a pensioner, and because of her low income, she has to shop at the big food chains because of the promotions
In 8 days, the Consumer Protection Commission found 370 violations out of 350 inspections. Their goal is to stop the artificial increase in the prices of some of the basic food products, Bulgaria On Air informs.
About 150 are the unfair commercial practices of large traders. The largest possible fine according to the law is BGN 50,000. The commission has established practices that mislead consumers when shopping – for example, the “You pay 2, you get 3” promotion.
The checks are mostly aimed at the big traders because they can distort the market and drag everyone else into it.
Against the background of these inspections – the prices of some foods continue to rise – a kilogram of cucumbers now costs as much as pork on promotion – nearly 8 BGN, an egg – 80 cents, and the retail and wholesale price for them is almost 50%.
Tomatoes also appeared on the market – 3.50 each, apples also continue to rise in price – already by nearly 80%.
Lyudmila is a pensioner, and because of her low income, she has to shop at the big food chains because of the promotions.
“There is an unfair practice. The previous day the product was priced at BGN 4, and the next day a red label was placed at BGN 4.69. Are we crazy, what are we? We will not buy,” she said.
The violations that the experts from the Consumer Protection Commission have found are more than the number of inspections. Not only large commercial establishments, but also local chains in different regions of the country are under monitoring for the last 8 days.
“Most often, this is the product to which qualities are transferred – the big advertisements like “Made in Bulgaria” or “Choose Bulgarian”, but in fact the goods are not Bulgarian. Another type of unfair commercial practice is the sale of fresh products, such as meat and fish, and they are not fresh at all and are frozen,” commented Angel Jalev from the Commission for Consumer Protection.
And people say that the unfair practices of traders are a daily occurrence.
“When it says that it’s on sale, it turns out at the checkout that it’s not exactly like that, but they fix it right away,” added another shopper.
Inspections by the Consumer Protection Commission in stores will continue until the end of March.
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