[Source: BT]

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission Act is being reviewed with the aim of addressing specific issues prevalent in the country.

Chief Executive, Joel Abraham says their aim is to identify and address any shortcomings or gaps that may hinder the effectiveness of the Act.

He says the review started in 2018 with the assistance of Australian and New Zealand experts.

Abraham is hopeful the review will be finalized soon, so they can make legislative changes and strengthen the provisions in the Act.

“In Fiji, consumers are very price sensitive, and traders often will utilize opportunities in the market and they will increase the prices and this opportunities are not only when you look at VAT change. Look at when we had first cases of COVID, people put up the prices because they knew there was going to be panic buying. During cyclones the prices of generators and other things they go up.”

Abraham says as a regulator, their role is to ensure that none of the price increases are artificial and it is fairly applied to the market.