Viktor Orbán said on the margin freeze that wholesalers were not interested in Hungarians, only profits.Continue reading
Experience so far shows that traders are complying with the profit cap provisions. The government’s intervention has been successful, with the prices of around 760 out of the 1,000 products affected being reduced, Norbert Eitmann, press officer of the National Authority for Trade and Consumer Protection, told Hirado.hu.
The government has introduced a 10 percent margin restriction in 30 food categories from March 17, affecting more than a thousand products. This was necessary because, with high inflation, consumer price rises after January did not slow down in February.
According to Minister for Economy Márton Nagy, the food price controls will have tangible results as early as March. And by April, when the full impact of the price-gap freeze will be felt, food inflation will fall by two percentage points, meaning that the rate of monetary deflation will fall below seven percent next month.
On this basis, the Minister expects annual inflation to be between 4.5 and 5 percent this year.
He also announced that the average price of products subject to food price controls has fallen by 16 percent in shops, but in some cases it has been as much as 40 percent.
Norbert Eitmann said in response to questions from Hirado.hu that consumer protection inspections are carried out by the government offices with consumer protection powers in each county under the professional direction of the National Authority for Trade and Consumer Protection. There was no price reduction where the margin was already below 10 percent, he recalled.
According to Mr Eitmann, if the on-the-spot check “suggests a likely infringement, the consumer protection authority has 60 days to clarify the facts, i.e. to obtain and assess the business’s statement and then issue a decision with the appropriate sanction. No fines have yet been imposed on this basis for the provisions that entered into force on March 17, 2025.”
According to the press officer, government agencies can impose fines of HUF 5 million (EUR 12,530) per product category for violations of the legislation on margins, while up to HUF 2 million (EUR 5,000) per product category will be imposed for violations of the provisions on the proportion of private label products and the quantity of products distributed.
When asked what happens if the repeated inspection reveals another violation of the law – i.e. that the trader did not comply with the margin requirements – Norbert Eitmann replied that “fines can be imposed several times a day,” and in subsequent cases the fine may even be higher than the first time.
He stressed that in addition to traditional shops, the same checks would be carried out in online shops.
Via Hirado.hu, Featured photo via Pixabay
