Vegetable market raided after pre-Ramadan hikes

Abu Dhabi authorities caught vegetable dealers off guard on Sunday when they raided their main market and fined some of them up to Dh20,000 for raising the prices of some products by over 30 per cent ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Inspectors from the Ministry of Economy, led by consumer protection director Hashim Al Nuaimi, raided the Mina Zayed vegetable and fruit market following consumer complaints that some traders have sharply increased prices in violation of a recent ministry decision to freeze the prices of key consumer items until after Ramadan.

Emirat Al Youm daily said the inspectors imposed fines of between Dh10,000 and Dh20,000 on some dealers after they found that they have hiked their prices by 20-38 per cent. It said the items affected included tomato, potato, carrot, squash, peach, orange, grape, apricot and other vegetables and fruits.

“The Ministry will review all import bills in the next few days to find out who was responsible for such unjustified price increases,” Nuaimi said.

He said inspectors would carry out similar raids on other vegetable and fruit markets as well as shops and hypermarkets through the UAE in the first week of Ramadan to prevent any fresh price increases.

“What happened in Abu Dhabi was unjustified. We have allowed dealers to raise the prices of some times by a maximum 10 per cent, but we found out that there were price increases by up to 38 per cent,” he said.

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