Consumer Affairs Authority Officers in the South have currently intensified sudden raids and mobile inspections to detect errant traders in the Southern Province.
They have collected nearly Rs 13 lakhs from errant traders by way of court fines through sudden raids and inspections conducted during October.
According to the officials 105 raids were carried out in the Matara district, 42 in the Galle district and 105 raids in the Hambantota district, totalling to 252.
The errant traders were prosecuted in the Magistrates’ Courts of the three districts, the officials said.
Vendors who were nabbed were indicted on counts of sale and display of food items unsuitable for human consumption, expired food items, foodstuff decayed and eaten by rats, weevils and insects, altering marked prices on labels and selling them at excessive rates, selling electrical appliances without warranty cards, rice and cement above set prices, non display of price tags, hoarding essential food items and violating rules and regulations imposed by the Consumer Affairs Authority.
According to the CAA, complaints on frauds, malpractices and corruptions committed by unscrupulous traders are received daily by the Authority. Therefore, the CAA has increased its raids and inspections, the officials said.
Awareness programs on consumer rights are also being conducted for schoolchildren, members of voluntary organizations, traders and the public, by the Authority.