The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) issued a statement on Saturday (6) cautioning the public not to accept as true, any rumours that the gazetted prices of certain types of rice has been amended, and also announced that the Authority would inform rice millers and rice sellers of the same.
The CAA further sought the public’s support by stating that the CAA’s hotline 1977 could be used to inform those who sell rice at exorbitant prices above the declared maximum retail prices (MRPs).
This statement comes at a time where multiple reports of rice millers and retail sellers selling rice above the MRP emerged. Although rice millers and sellers are at the centre of this issue, there are also reports of restaurant owners refusing to reduce the prices of rice-based meals citing high prices of ingredients including that of rice which are yet to be reduced.
The rising rice mafia is a major threat to a country in which malnutrition and inflation are on the rise. Consumers who discuss the matter on social media are of the opinion that the government and the authorities, i.e. the CAA, are not taking the gravity of this issue seriously and that ordinary citizens are on their own. Rice being the most consumed food item in the country, which makes it a commodity the public cannot refuse but purchase even at unjustifiable prices, is a matter that requires urgent and serious attention.
The fact that the CAA has taken a more active role in thwarting the sale of rice at higher prices than the MRP is admirable. However, it has to be not only determined and strict, but also methodical, innovative, expeditious, effective and practical in approach.
As has been seen on many occasions, raids conducted by the CAA are of great importance in curbing the rice mafia. However, most of the time, those raids target only rice sellers, especially retail sellers, and the country almost never sees rice millers being subjected to similar levels of scrutiny. That is an extremely concerning situation, if rice millers are also part of this issue, which is dealing a heavy blow to ordinary citizens. If that is a result of money and power that large-scale rice millers have, the message it sends out is an extremely harmful and disheartening one.
The message that the authorities give is important in so many aspects of this issue. Legal actions, especially fines as the most common legal action, seem to aim only at punishing wrongdoers, and when it comes to deterring wrongdoings, they do not seem to be adequate. One of the reasons is the amount of fines, which many, including consumer rights activists, think is not sufficient to discourage another person from engaging in the rice market. This is an area where the subject minister, or the subject ministry, has to step in. Taking into consideration the situation, they should swiftly analyse the situation, and introduce the necessary regulatory, legal and policy frameworks to take stricter legal actions against those involved in food black markets. It is crucial to ensure that these measures provide for proactive measures that do not require an official complaint.
It is also important that the authorities’ actions pay special attention to penalising intermediaries who, through unfair means, exploit both farmers and rice sellers. The authorities should obtain the assistance of farmers and agricultural officials who know more about the grassroots level realities. In fact, the combat against the rice black market would be further strengthened if the public also took a more active role in this process, as the CAA wanted. For their own well-being and the country’s future, and understanding also the reality that what the authorities can do by themselves is limited, the public should use all the available mechanisms to take action against those engaged in food black markets.
However, actions aimed at streamlining the provision of rice and curbing black markets should not be a process that focuses merely on consumers. Rice millers, farmers, rice sellers, intermediates and others involved in this trade should be given an opportunity to have their say, to ensure that their concerns, especially the concern that it is difficult to sell rice at gazette prices, are also heard and are taken into account in the related decision-making processes. Most importantly, in their case, it is important to provide them with an official and legal method to request price changes based on valid reasons, instead of becoming a part of the rice black market.