Briefs | Ilha Verde Neighborhood Association proposes penalty for profiteering

Sellers who take advantage of the e-voucher scheme by inflating the prices of goods should be banned from participating in the second phase of the scheme, Chan Fong, deputy director-general of the Ilha Verde Neighborhood Association has proposed. This suggestion comes in response to the widespread price hikes during the first days of the scheme. Chan thinks that the existing mechanism is too weak in the regulation of such practices. Vong Kok Seng, deputy director-general of the Macao Chamber of Commerce, encouraged local sellers to refrain from increasing prices, as he observed a strong demand for consumption locally. The Consumer Council has received more than 300 complaints related to the e-voucher scheme.

Lawmaker warns price hikes threaten to lessen economic gain from e-vouchers

Price-hiking or profiteering will hurt the credibility of businesses in the long term, Lao Chi Ngai, lawmaker, academic and head of the Macau Economic Association, has said. The loss will eventually outweigh the gain, the lawmaker added. He said he has seen reports on supermarkets that have irrationally-priced pork knuckle and luncheon meat. Sellers should have proactively explained whether the hikes were caused by typos or a rise in cost, he said. He also reminded sellers to be extra cautious with pricing during this special period so as to protect their reputations.

New health code system used more than 500,000 times

The new color health code system has recorded 530,000 instances of use by 216,000 people, as of 4 p.m. yesterday, the second day of operation. The Health Bureau and the Public Security Police Force jointly reminded people who need to cross the border to obtain the health code in advance to avoid hassles at border checkpoints. Even so, obstructions were still recorded yesterday at the step of obtaining a mobile verification code. The Health Bureau attributed yesterday’s failure to the fact that such people were not on Macau’s cellphone network so could not receive the code. The new code requires real-name registration, which was absent in the old system.