Government vows to act after complaints of shops exploiting subsidy scheme

The DIT said that 277 people had filed complaints via the department's hotline 1569 about stores taking undue advantage of the “Khon La Khrueng” (Let's Go Halves) scheme.

DIT deputy director-general Wattanasak Sur-iam said after the government launched the scheme on October 23, the department had cooperated with provincial commerce offices in inspecting stores that participated in the scheme to prevent retailers from taking advantage of people.

He said125 people had filed complaints about Blue Flag stores and 152 had complained about stores taking part in the subsidy scheme. He said retailers used various methods to take advantage of people, such as jacking up prices, removing price tags on products, showing price tags in other languages and violating rules.

"The department has filed a lawsuit under The Price of Goods and Services Act, BE 2542 (1999) against these stores," he said. "Meanwhile, we found that most of the stores under the scheme had jacked-up product prices to receive the government's subsidy."

He added that those who take advantage of people would face more than just the Bt140,000 fine or seven years imprisonment or both.

"The department would also suspend privileges of Blue Flag shops who violate the rules," he added.