Plans to register all shops under CAA for price regulation: Deputy Minister

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

Colombo, July 10 (Daily Mirror) - Steps are being taken to register all shops in the country under the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) in a move to regulate prices of goods, Deputy Minister of Co-operative Development Upali Samarasinghe said today.

He told Parliament that it is difficult to regulate prices in all shops whereas it is obvious that prices of goods differ in various shops.

"It is obvious that prices of goods even in two adjacent shops differ. We cannot take action against prices of all goods except for goods with controlled prices,” he said.

Responding to a question by NPP MP Ruwanthilaka Jayakody, the Minister said a proposal has been received to register all the shops under the CAA as a solution and discussions are in progress on the matter.

“We have observed that prices of goods are increased soon after fuel prices are increased. But, prices of goods are not reduced when fuel prices are reduced. We are planning to introduce a mechanism to address this issue after the registration of shops under the CAA,” he said.