Charges brought against Dis-Chem for inflating mask prices by 261%

DURBAN – The competition Commission yesterday laid charges of excessive pricing against Dis-Chem, one of South Africa’s top pharmaceutical groups.

The commission laid the charges with the Competition Tribunal for a maximum penalty after saying that its investigation found that Dis-Chem charged customers excessively for essential hygiene goods during the State of National Disaster.

It asked the tribunal to prosecute the pharmaceutical company for contravening Section 8(1)(a) of the Competition Act.

The commission said prior to the state of disaster, Dis-Chem sold surgical face masks blue 50PC, surgical face masks 5PC and surgical face masks in folio dress blue at far lower prices.

It said the average price for the 50PC masks was inflated 261percent from R43.47 in February to R156.95 in March.