The Display of Price Order makes it mandatory for companies and sellers to produce a price tag for every product offered on the market. Unfortunately, the law is being ignored by a huge share of online sellers on social media, who have opted to hide key information from the public.
Not only is this a flagrant breach of law, but the underhanded practice invites manipulation, unfair competition, cheating and price discrimination at the expense of consumers. The peeving message, ‘PM for price’, further infuriates and wastes the time of potential buyers.
In reducing the incidence of such practice, I urge the authorities to be more proactive in fining companies that engage in such an unethical and illegal fashion of hiding product pricing, such as having a hotline to encourage consumers to report the unscrupulous business strategy.
More importantly, the responses need to be swift.
Strengthening the policy capacity in this domain will force companies and sellers to comply with the law.
By enforcing the law, it will improve the overall condition of the market through the development of healthy and transparent competition among sellers, notwithstanding the reduction in the all annoying ‘PM for price’ message.
Mr Economist
