Individual rapid antigen tests are selling for $100 each with substantially more complaints made about pharmacists than any other kind of retailer, reported The Daily Mail.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has compiled a list of complaints about price gouging for home testing kits.
From Christmas Day to January 7, maximum prices surged from just $14 to $100. This was well above the wholesale costs of $3.95 to $11.45 for one test.
When it came to reported rip offs, pharmacists had the most complaints at 879 during the two-and-a-half week period covering December 25 to January 12.
This was followed by 283 for supermarkets, tobacconists and convenience stores and 272 for petrol stations.
In some cases, retailers are even refusing to give customers a receipt to hide their price gouging.
ACCC chair Rod Sims said retailers selling RATs at a huge mark-up needed to explain themselves.
‘We are asking those businesses to urgently explain the prices they are charging,’ he said.
‘In the middle of a significant outbreak of Covid-19 in a pandemic, the excessive pricing of rapid antigen tests required to diagnose the illness and protect other members of the public, is of significant concern to the ACCC.’
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Class Action Settlement Reached in Cheerleading Monopoly
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
DOJ Nears Antitrust Lawsuit Against Live Nation
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Chile Proposes Legislation to Regulate Artificial Intelligence
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Proposed NCAA Antitrust Settlement in the Works, Says Attorney
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Senator Calls for Independent Cybersecurity Agency to Safeguard Consumer Data
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Mapping Antitrust onto Digital Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystems and Competition Law: A Law and Political Economy Approach
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystem Theories of Harm: What is Beyond the Buzzword?
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Open Ecosystems: Benefits, Challenges, and Implications for Antitrust
May 9, 2024 by
CPI