Ramadan Price Gouging in Morocco: Hundreds of Violations Reported

Following a market control of food products, nearly 370 violations in terms of prices and quality were reported by the joint (provincial and local) control commissions over about twenty days, reports l’Économiste.

As for the offenses, the lack of price display is at the top. This offense accounts for 73% of the cases reported by the inspectors, or 274.

For the same media, few businesses display prices. It is sometimes "at the customer’s head" that the price is set to the detriment of people with limited resources. The lack of presentation of invoices comes in second place with 54 cases. This is also a "safe conduct" to exaggerate the profit margin, we are told.

These interventions took into account 25,000 wholesale and retail outlets and storage warehouses. At the end of the interventions, 164 tons of goods, stored or presented for sale, were destroyed. For the interministerial commission, the regular holding of its meetings to be aware of the market situation and crack down on any form of fraud, could continue.

For some processed products, it is difficult for the consumer to choose from a large number of products that all seem to have the same characteristics. Especially when the labeling does not provide enough information on the quality of the product or overlooks its traceability, deplore consumers.