Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has disclosed that it is investigating retailers that are overpricing cooking oil.
Spot-checks by MBC found that the price of the commodity has gone up by at least K1000 in most retail shops.
For instance, a two litre bottle of cooking oil which was selling for K7500 around this time last month is now selling between K8500 and K9 000; with the cheapest brands that were fetching around K6500 now trading at K7600.
Apart from this, some retailers have fewer stocks of local cooking oil brands, especially those packaged in 2 litre and 1 litre bottles.
The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has since affirmed that the matter has come to their attention and they are investigating.
“We will conduct a price monitoring exercise from next week across the country to ascertain such allegations of price increases for basic goods and services, including cooking oil. We will take to task anyone found to be violating the Competition and Fair Trading Act (CFTA),” said Innocent Helema, CFTC spokesperson.
According to Helema, those found violating laws on fair trade risk facing stiff penalties, as stipulated in the amended Competitions and Fair Trading Act.
