Chief Executive, Joel Abraham. [File Photo]

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission has carried out 6,756 inspections across Fiji as of June.

2,530 inspections were conducted in the Central, 2,147 in the Western and 1,692 in the Eastern division.

Chief Executive, Joel Abraham says they noted 312 breaches in total, with the Central Division recording 152.

Abraham adds the level of compliance is now at 96% after having dropped in March when the pandemic hit.

“Times are tough and people can start to get crafty. They can start to get creative but we’ve been going with the message that it’s bad business practice, to be unethical and rip off consumers and we’re quite pleased that businesses are responding and a 96% compliance means businesses are doing well in the market. Yes, there’s instances where people are reporting isolated incidents of breaches here and there. We go out and our teams investigate.”

The CEO adds the type of breaches have also changed in recent months.

“It started off when we were looking at this whole COVID-19 pandemic. It started off with excessive pricing, price gouging, overcharging now the dynamics are changing slowly failure to issue receipts, there’s certain instances of expired goods, certain instances of damaged goods, there’s instances of warranties.”

The FCCC says it has also improved its response and more reinforcement has been added to their teams on the ground ensuring they address issues head-on.

195 inspections conducted in Levuka, Lakeba Island 44, Taveuni 73, in Rotuma 15, Kadavu 41 and Yasawa 19.