President of the Supermarket Association of T&T (SATT), Rajiv Diptee, has advised consumers to report any instances of price gouging to the Consumer Affairs Division of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
In a media statement on Friday afternoon, Diptee said “delinquent” supermarkets involved in any unsavoury practices such as price-gouging did not fall under SATT.
He added that incidents of price-gouging within SATT were practically nonexistent and condemned charging customers excessively.
Diptee added, “SATT wishes to remind the public that not all supermarkets fall under the umbrella of the association. SATT members are held to a gold standard of community service and industry best practice while adhering to robust corporate social responsibility.”
He said the sector was one of the most robust and competitive sectors both in the Caribbean and Latin America, which created fair and competitive operations.
However, Diptee noted that because the sector was saturated, it created high levels of competition among leading household brand-name supermarkets, who were also competing for attention.
“As such, this provides checks and balances where predatory pricing is concerned. This results in an environment where deals, specials and promotions are a common draw for customers looking to maximise their budget.
“In an industry this competitive, it simply does not allow for price-gouging to occur when consumers have so many options for their shopping needs.”
He said charging exorbitant prices for goods was an unscrupulous practice “and one that is treated harshly under the auspices of the association.”
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