More than 33 percent of audited stores have mismatched pricing | Inland

Every year, the Economic Inspectorate checks compliance with the basic rules in a number of sectors, such as registration in the crossroads bank of companies or the correct indication of prices. Last year this was the case in food stores, pharmacies, opticians, drugstores, DIY stores, dry cleaning and ironing shops and newsagents.

The results show that quite a few cases violated basic legislation, according to figures from State Secretary De Bleeker. Infringements were found in 1,168 of the 2,350 stores checked, almost half. 1,320 warnings and 151 official reports were issued for this.

36.5 percent of the businesses involved violations of the pricing legislation. This means that they did not display the prices or did not show them clearly, or displayed prices on which taxes and costs still had to be paid. Those figures are higher than last year, when just under 30 percent of the inspected stores were caught by incorrect pricing. At that time, however, it was about other sectors, which makes comparison difficult. In addition, only 3.5 percent of the businesses committed serious infringements, says De Bleeker.

Nevertheless, the State Secretary emphasizes that the figures must be reduced. “The consumer must always be able to see the correct price of a product or service. After all, correct pricing is essential for market transparency and allows consumers to compare prices objectively,” she says. De Bleeker encourages consumers who see possible infringements while shopping to report this to the reporting center of the Economic Inspectorate.