Three businesses in Jaffna have been fined a total of Rs. 668,000 by the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court for selling goods above regulated or printed prices, the Daily Mirror reported on Sunday.
The fines followed raids by district investigation officers of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA).
The three cases
A restaurant and liquor shop in Jaffna was fined Rs. 300,000 for selling a one-litre bottle of drinking water at Rs. 200, against a maximum retail price of Rs. 120.
A café was fined Rs. 100,000 for selling a bottle of soda above its printed retail price.
A third trader was fined Rs. 268,000 after being prosecuted for selling Ponni Samba rice above the maximum retail price of Rs. 255 per kilogram.
A laboratory settled the rice case
The rice prosecution turned on what the stock actually was. During proceedings the owner claimed the rice was Paal Ponni, a variety outside the controlled price. On a court order, a sample submitted by the CAA was examined by the Rice Research Institute, which confirmed the stock was imported Ponni Samba rice — the controlled variety.
Advice to consumers
The CAA urged consumers to check the printed price and the maximum retail price before buying goods, and to obtain and keep receipts as evidence when making complaints. Suspected trade violations can be reported to the authority through its hotline, 1977, during working hours.
The case is the latest in a sustained enforcement run by the authority, which recently filed lawsuits against 84 retailers over imported goods and separately fined traders in Wellawaya over rice sold above the maximum retail price. Jaffna medical institutions were also fined by the CAA earlier this month.
The Daily Mirror was the only verified newsroom carrying the Jaffna fines as of Sunday afternoon; its headline gives the total as “over Rs. 650,000”, while the itemised figures in its report add to Rs. 668,000.
