The gross profit margin cap is abolished – long live the gross profit margin controls!
On June 2, a few weeks before the expiry of the gross margin cap on Monday, concerning a range of food and other grocery items and fuel, supermarkets received a letter from the Interdepartmental Market Control Unit (DIMEA) – anything but a farewell or formal one.
Kathimerini understands that with that letter, DIMEA requested price data for May for the five most essential product codes per category out of a total of 70 product categories, in order to check whether the ceiling on the gross profit margin has been respected, for which, it should be noted, the reference year is the gross profit margin before December 31, 2021.
Similar letters have also been sent to suppliers, including multinationals, with their leaders meaningfully stating in recent days, “We are not very sure that the ceiling on the gross profit margin is being abolished in practice.”
The market argues that the request to send data so that there can be extensive audits for the period when the ceiling was still in force actually constitutes a warning and at the same time a means of pressure by the government toward suppliers and retailers, with the message being clear: “Do not carry out any excessive price increases after June 30, because we will impose a fine on you for the pre-abolition ceiling period and, at worst, we will perform a ‘name-and-shame’ operation.”
One might reasonably ask: If the audit services identify a violation of the legislation on unfair profiteering, will they not impose the prescribed fines? And will the name of the company not be made public if the fine is over 50,000 euros? “If an auditor wants to find something, he will definitely find it, because the methodology for calculating the ceiling and the implementation of the legislation remain complicated,” market executives tell Kathimerini.
Nevertheless, the market insists that there will be no wave of price increases after Monday, especially in basic items, as the economic and political sentiment does not favor it.