From the cases that it screened, the Commission said that it noticed the following trends:<\/p>\n
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- Retailers, traders or suppliers increased prices and margins in response to increases in: Public demand and panic buying; Input costs and cost of imports; Rand depreciation and\/or supply disruptions because of Covid-19.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Some firms have increased prices despite no significant increase in input costs (price gouging).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- \u00a0There was an increase in\u00a0 ‘opportunistic trading’ through various platforms, such as existing retail channels, direct sales to the public or online platforms of items that were not previously traded with huge mark-ups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Complaints\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Competition Commission said that the largest proportion of complaints about excessive pricing were from Gauteng (43%).<\/p>\n
By comparison, KZN (14%), the North West (13%) and the Western Cape (12%) received comparatively fewer cases.<\/p>\n
The largest portion of complaints around excessive pricing was about the high cost of basic food products (265 complaints).<\/p>\n
Other complaints focused on the price of masks (164 complaints) and the cost of sanitisers\/wipes (125 complaints).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Complaints.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Excessive-2.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhile the Competition Commission did not provide details on all of its cases, it did highlight some of the most egregious companies which it dealt with.<\/p>\n
It should be noted that some of these cases are still ongoing and that the case may be found in favour of the firm.<\/p>\n
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- Babelegi Workwear Overall Manufacturers & Industrial Supplies<\/strong>:\u00a0 Price increases of facial masks from R41 per box up to R500 per box which account for markups in excess of 500%;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Dis-Chem Group<\/strong>: Price increases of surgical face masks increased in excess of between 43% and 261%;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Hennox<\/strong>: Price increases of Filtering Face Piece 1 (FFP1) masks by up to 969.07%;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Sicuro Safety<\/strong>: Price increases of FFP1 masks by up to 956.07%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The firms could face penalties of up to 10% of annual turnover.<\/p>\n
Punishment<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Competiton Commission said it also achieved a number of settlements and consent orders with several respondent firms, with the following broad undertakings:<\/p>\n
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- Corrective action to prices\/margins \u2013 reduction of up to 20%;<\/li>\n
- Penalty or donation that bears some relationship to the excess profits earned to charity organizations, old age homes and the Solidarity Fund, and;<\/li>\n
- Penalty that exceeds excess profits earned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
To date, a total of 35 firms are in various stages of settlement, the Competition Commission said.<\/p>\n
It added that 13 settlements have been confirmed by the Competition Tribunal through consent orders,.<\/p>\n
The total value of the settlements finalised is equal to R12,854,694.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Competition-Commission.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
- Sicuro Safety<\/strong>: Price increases of FFP1 masks by up to 956.07%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Hennox<\/strong>: Price increases of Filtering Face Piece 1 (FFP1) masks by up to 969.07%;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Dis-Chem Group<\/strong>: Price increases of surgical face masks increased in excess of between 43% and 261%;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Babelegi Workwear Overall Manufacturers & Industrial Supplies<\/strong>:\u00a0 Price increases of facial masks from R41 per box up to R500 per box which account for markups in excess of 500%;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \u00a0There was an increase in\u00a0 ‘opportunistic trading’ through various platforms, such as existing retail channels, direct sales to the public or online platforms of items that were not previously traded with huge mark-ups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Some firms have increased prices despite no significant increase in input costs (price gouging).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n