Retailers under ‘Let’s go Halves’ scheme warned against jacking up prices
The Finance Ministry is calling on retailers participating in the “Khon La Khrueng” (Let’s Go Halves) subsidy scheme to stop jacking up their prices and taking advantage of shoppers.
Pornchai Triraveja, fiscal policy adviser for the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) and the ministry’s spokesperson, said increasing prices also goes against the scheme’s aim to reduce people’s cost of living in the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said complaints about retailers who violate the scheme’s rules can be emailed to [email protected], by calling FPO at (02) 273 9020 extensions 3697, 3527, 3548 and 3509 or by calling Krungthai Bank at (02) 111 1144.
“The ministry is cooperating with related authorities to investigate this issue. We will suspend the use of Tung Ngern smartphone application and take legal action against retailers found to be violating the rules,” he said.
As of November 30, more than 870,000 shops and over 9 million citizens have joined the scheme. So far, total spending stands at Bt31.77 billion, of which Bt16.22 billion has been spent by the public and Bt15.55 million by the government.
The top five provinces with the highest spending were Bangkok, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and Chonburi.