All leading companies have raise bottled water prices exorbitantly, hitting the consumers hard, Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) has observed.
The Commission has urged the Directorate General of National Consumers Protection (DNCRP) to act against any such wrongdoings. cosmetic jars wholesale
The BCC conducted a drive last month and found that companies, namely, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co, Partex, TK, City and Meghna raised the maximum retail prices (MRP) of their respective brands of 500 millilitre (ml) water bottles. They raised the prices to Tk 20 from Tk 15 earlier, up by 33.33 per cent. The brands are Kinley, Aquafina, Mum, Pushti, Jibon and Fresh respectively
The BCC sent a letter, issued by its member Sowdagar Mustafizur Rahman on August 21, to the senior commerce secretary, DNCRP and all concerned officials of the competition commission.
The letter said the Commission during a drive on August 20 noticed that the companies raised the prices exorbitantly.
It found that the companies set the MRP of their respective bottled water at Tk 20 when their wholesale rate was Tk 11-12.
The BCC thinks the difference of Tk 8.0-9.0 from wholesale to the retail rate is irrationally higher, according to the letter.
The letter recommended that the DNCRP take immediate action against this.
A report published in The Financial Express on June 11 last year revealed that the same companies had raised the prices of 1-5 litre water bottles by 25 per cent in the May-June period of the year.
Most of the companies then told the FE that they had raised the prices in the wake of a hike in pet bottle prices.
However, the multinational companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi raised their half-a-litre water bottle prices six months back while the local companies followed the suit in the most recent months, according to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
When asked, director general of DNCRP AHM Shafiquzzaman told the FE that his organisation had received the BCC letter and started working on it.
"We have already sought necessary information from the leading mineral water companies in this regard," he said.
He also said it was unethical and irrational that the companies raised the MRP by Tk 5.0 for their half-a-litre bottled water when they kept the wholesale prices almost static.
CAB vice president SM Nazer Hossain said, "I think the BCC itself should also take action against the companies in this connection."
He said, "As far as I know, DNCRP can take legal action, if they find the fixed MRP is being violated."
He said the companies raised prices of bottled water by 25-34 per cent in last one year citing an excuse of pet bottle price hike and no action was taken.
He requested the BCC not to drop the matter and conduct further investigation.
Mr Hossain said bottled mineral water ensures water security of millions who go outside home as the government is yet to guarantee safe drinking water for all.
He said half a litre water bottles account for 45-50 per cent of the total commercial water supply by the companies.
When contacted, BCC Chairperson Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty said, "We can make recommendation to the DNCRP or other concerned agencies for taking initiatives as per the law".
He said DNCRP was working on consumers' issues randomly across the country.
The Commission thinks their enforcement of laws could help the BCC further in taking proper action against any such wrongdoing.
However, the FE couldn't take take any immediate comments from the mineral water companies despite several attempts to contact them over phone.
According to leading beverage houses, private companies now supply more than 63 million litres of bottled water across the country per month.
Published by Syed Manzur Elahi for International Publications Limited from Tropicana Tower (4th floor), 45, Topkhana Road, GPO Box : 2526 Dhaka- 1000 and printed by him from The Transcraft Limited, 229, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208.
E-mail : [email protected], [email protected]
Pen Type Perfume Bottle © 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express