Govt seeking Court intervention to force price curb on Prima

Irangika Range

COLOMBO: The Government will be seeking an interim order from the Supreme Court to force the Prima Company to suspend its decision to increase the price of wheat flour without prior approval from the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA).

Prima has increased the price by Rs.4 on a kilogram of wheat since last Saturday. The current price per kilo of wheat flour is Rs.54.

Trade, Marketing Development,Co-operative and Consumer Services Minister Bandula Gunawardana told the Daily News that this arbitrary decision constitute an act of cheating the consumer. The Company has increased the prices of wheat flour five fold since 2006 illegally without informing the CAA.

“Therefore we have decided to take legal action against Prima,” he said. This decision has been taken to break the monopoly of Prima.

He said Prima Ltd has increased wheat flour price illegally and the Government has filed law suits on three occasions against Prima for violating the CAA act.