South Africa fines 20 companies for inflating prices

South Africa's Competition Tribunal has reached a total of 20 consent agreements for hiking prices of essential items since April, said the Tribunal last week.
   The Competition Tribunal said this after reaching into a consent agreement with Vasilis supermarket and Sanitech for unreasonably inflating prices.
   "All of these agreements relate to the alleged excessive pricing of goods, such as sanitizers and face masks, used by consumers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Tribunal communications officer Gillian de Gouveia.
   Some companies were ordered to supply some essential items to some selected organisations. Some were ordered to pay some money into the Solidarity Fund to fight COVID-19.
   She said the Competition Commission received complaints from the public, investigated and found the companies on the wrong side of the law for hiking prices unreasonably.
   Some companies increased the prices of masks and sanitizers. In May, the Competition Commission said they have received 1,354 complaints and 697 were COVID-19 related.  (Xinhua)