AZE.US
Sharp increases in food and drink prices at summer resorts have sparked renewed debate in Azerbaijan, with visitors complaining that some establishments sell ordinary dishes under elaborate names at several times their usual price.
Even bottled water can sometimes be offered at unexpectedly high prices.
However, economist Khalid Karimli says high prices at privately owned restaurants should not automatically be described as artificial price inflation.
“A restaurant may set a price even 100 times higher,” Karimli told Pravda.az.
“Unless that price has been coordinated with other market participants or the business holds a monopoly position, it cannot be considered an artificial increase.”
According to the economist, private businesses operating in a market economy are generally entitled to set their own prices. Government intervention in the pricing policies of an individual restaurant would therefore lack legal grounds in most cases.
Karimli said artificial pricing typically refers to prices that are not formed through competition and market conditions, but are instead imposed by monopolies or regulated entities where consumers have no meaningful alternative.
He cited regulated tariffs, certain public services, internet access and railway transportation as examples of areas where pricing may require greater oversight.
A potential violation could also occur if several restaurants coordinated their prices, agreed to raise them simultaneously or attempted to restrict competition.
“If a restaurant’s prices do not suit us, we are not required to go there,” Karimli said. “Consumers can also warn others that the establishment is expensive.”
He added that when a customer reviews the menu, sees the prices and proceeds with the order, the restaurant is legally entitled to demand payment.
The economist said charging more for a dish than customers might consider reasonable does not, by itself, create grounds for state intervention.
Consumers are nevertheless advised to check menu prices in advance and ask about service charges, deposits, bottled water and other additional fees before placing an order.
AZE.US