Company slapped with R3.5m fine for overcharging SAPS for sanitisers
A company that supplied bulk hand sanitiser to police has been slapped with a R3.5 million fine.
It's after the Competition Tribunal found BlueCollar and its partners guilty of excessive pricing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The tribunal has described the conduct of the supplier as shocking, saying it exploited the pandemic by charging the police extra for the crucial sanitisers that were used to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Through its investigations, it found that the company supplied the sanitisers as a so-called reseller, which bought sanitiser stock from third-party suppliers and then supplied it to the SAPS.
The tribunal received a complaint from the SAPS after it purchased 10 000 bottles of 25 litres each at a price of R3 500 per container.
It found that BlueCollar added a markup price of 120% per container, earning a profit of more than 50%.
In a statement, the tribunal says the company's conduct was inhumane, considering the crucial role the SAPS played during the pandemic.
It says there is no doubt such excessive pricing negatively impacts on government's resources and negatively impacts taxpayers.
