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Online sellers fined for hiking prices of face masks, hand sanitiser

Sellers hiking the prices of face masks and hand sanitiser on some e-commerce websites have been fined.
Online sellers fined for hiking prices of face masks, hand sanitiser ảnh 1A seller on Shopee.vn offers a box of face masks for 2.7 million VND (116 USD). (Photo ndh)

Hanoi (VNA) -Sellers hiking the prices of face masks and hand sanitiser on some e-commercewebsites have been fined.

According to the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy under theMinistry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), violations were found on Sendo.vn,Shopee.vn, Lazada.vn, Tiki.vn, chotot.com, vatgia.com and fado.vn. Sellers wereallegedly taking advantage of the coronavirus epidemic to raise prices ofprotective goods.

The department said the move was to prevent stores from selling these productsat high prices amid the outbreak.

As of February 24, after reviewing a total of 463,865 online sellers, the teamfound 5,200 that increased prices on 21,000 products. 

There were more than 400 sellers increasing prices for 4,000 medical masksand 100 hiking prices for more than 1,500 hand gel products on sendo.vn.

Similarly, on Shopee.vn, 3,000 stalls were found charging high prices for 3,500masks and more than 400 stalls selling hand gel products at unreasonable prices.

A seller on Shopee.vn offered a box of face masks for 2.7 million VND (116USD), while the normal price was just 250,000 VND earlier this month. Theseller was fined.

About 1,000 sellers on other e-commerce platforms were also fined. 

On February 19, the department checked 223,597 sellers and found 5,000 of themwere offering more than 20,000 products at exorbitant prices.

Since the end of January, the COVID-19 epidemic has killed more than 2,600people and infected nearly 79,000 others, impacting localconsumer behaviour and raising interest in personal hygiene products.

According to global data and consulting company Kantar Worldpanel, onlineshopping platforms and delivery services are predicted to witness growth inboth shopper base and incremental spending by attracting new shoppers who havenever shopped online, and by increased or upgraded spendingfrom existing online shoppers./.
VNA
#Online sellers #face masks #hand sanitiser #Ministry of Industry and Trade #coronavirus epidemic #COVID-19 #Vietnam #Vietnamplus #Vietnam News Agency
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