The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has blamed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ministry of Trade for allowing traders to inflate prices of goods.
The depreciation of the cedi had forced traders to overly increase prices of goods and services, a situation which also increased the cost of living for Ghanaians.
According to the Head of Programs and Research at the CPA, Nana Agyemang Prempeh, the failure of the GRA and the Trades Ministry to enforce the laws effectively could account for the current high costs of goods.
[contextly_sidebar id=”xxG6RokqLvsBp0goCtsURBcuwWgMg12x”]For instance, it is illegal for traders to charge more than 15% of the cost of their wares.
However the Cedi’s recent depreciation against the dollar and the major international currencies saw the traders arbitrarily increase the prices of goods without.
The cedi has now seen some level stability against the major currencies in recent weeks, but the traders are unwilling to reduce their prices.
Nana Agyemang Prempeh stated on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday that “there are so many scattered consumer laws like the in Ghana in which the Agency has been able to put together which seek to protect consumers.”
Mr. Prepmeh Agyemang revealed that under laws like the Sales of Goods Act and Fair Trading Act, traders are only allowed to increase the prices of their goods to up to 15% of the original price.
He stated that the laws, which were “supposed to be enforced by the GRA and the Ministry of Trade,” have been ignored completely by most traders.
According to him, the traders are supposed to ”keep civil books of their sales” which the GRA is supposed to check consistently.
If the traders were found to have breached the laws, “the added profit [above 15% of the cost price] will be taken into the national chest.”
He added that despite constant calls to them, the Agency had received little help from the Trades Ministry to enforce the laws which were in place.
“We wrote a letter to the Ministry of Trade to institute a task force that would make sure that the laws are adhered to. Even in the manufacturing sector people do it. But now that it is liberal and everybody does what they want it makes it very hard for regulations to come into place.”
He also revealed that they have had a few proposals approved by the cabinet which they hope will be put before parliament and made laws.
“If the proposed consumer protection bills are sent to parliament then definitely you will know that there are serious laws that protect the consumer.”
The Deputy Minister for Finance, Mrs. Mornah Quartey had earlier stated that it will take some time for traders to respond to the Cedi’s appreciation.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana