Türkiye’s Treasury and Finance Ministry has taken action to adopt heavier measures for supermarkets and stores that charge excessive prices for goods, an issue that has been on the government’s agenda for some time.
Accordingly, the ministry carried out exorbitant price and label inspections at the markets, primarily in the capital Ankara.
The move came after the Cabinet meeting held on Nov. 28, when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the government will take action against the allegations that have been dominating the public agenda as well.
Driven by a surge in food prices and high energy costs, consumer prices in Türkiye rose an annual 85.5% through October, according to official data. Officials have blamed the inflation on high commodity costs, mainly caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as other external factors.
As part of the audits, the prices of basic necessities, especially vegetables and fruits, basic food products and cleaning products in the markets were examined by the inspection teams.
The officials checked whether there was a difference between the label price of the product and the price at the checkout, the label and imprint information of the product and the price of the discounted product before the discount. The teams took the randomly selected products to the checkout and compared the prices.
Adnan Benli, deputy general manager of the Ministry of Domestic Trade, in his evaluation to the members of the press regarding the inspections, said that as the ministry, they carried out exorbitant price increases and label inspections within the scope of the Law on the Regulation of Retail Trade and the Law on the Protection of the Consumer.
Stating that they control the buying and selling prices of the products they choose during the audits, Benli explained that in case of a need, they collect the minutes in which they issue the purchase and sales invoices of these products and send them to the Unfair Price Evaluation Board, which is established under the responsibility of the ministry.
"As a result of the examinations and evaluations it has made, if there is any violation of the legislation and if it is determined that an exorbitant price is made, this board imposes penalties from TL 14,600 to TL 146,600 ($785 to $7,865) against these enterprises," he said.
Penalties are applied for market abuse actions as well with a lower limit of TL 100,000 and the upper limit of TL 2 million fines.
Stating that they continue their inspections at the chain markets, manufacturers, suppliers and retail businesses in 81 provinces, Benli said that citizens can apply to the provincial directorates of the Trade Ministry in case of label inconsistencies and call the Alo 175 Consumer Hotline.
Türkiye’s Competition Authority (RK) in October last year fined retailers, including BIM, Migros, CarrefourSA, Şok Marketler and A101 Yeni Mağazacılık, around $283 million for violating antitrust regulations.
The watchdog suggested that the companies had coordinated prices of products directly or via suppliers in a manner that was against the interests of consumers and had entered into cartel-like agreements or coordinated actions.
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