When it comes to the pricing of goods and services, regulation is a very slippery slope. This is because if it’s not handled well, it could escalate things and make it all worse. That’s how it can be. Because as much as businesses need to survive and customers need to buy things as cheaply as possible, it won’t make sense that one group is taking advantage of and draining out the other.
But then, that seems to be the case here in my country. It seems that business owners just slap prices they want on goods without really considering the effects it’ll have on customers. And most of the time, they’re always too damn expensive. And even worse, they usually don’t even care about the financial implications for the customers, as long as it means more money for them.
In my country, the only thing that seems to be regulated is the price of petrol, it is strictly controlled by NNPC, and failure to follow the regulation could lead to them shutting down your station. The only time this doesn’t really work is during scarcity, when fuel becomes expensive. Then, all of them inflate the prices as much as they want.
But then, it’s not everything that the price can be regulated. Certain things are exclusive and based on the actual value that they bring, which may differ from one provider to the other. That’s why hotel rooms charge differently. A suite in a hotel in Ikeja would cost differently if the same suite were in Lekki. It would be different in Victoria Island. And it would very much be different in Banana Island. Other times, the value speaks for itself, and only the provider can decide what he chooses to charge for it.
I accept that there are things that need price regulation, and so far, the government has not really paid much attention to it. A housing crisis is taking over the entire world, and here in Nigeria, it’s no different. Landlords just increase their prices with no prior warning, just like that. Sometimes, they increase the price by over 200%! Like, where will your tenants get that kind of money from?
I know that the government can’t tell a landlord how much to rent their property, but there can be laws in place, rules for ways to carry out certain things. There has to be a process for rent increases and quit notices. Also, the pointless fees that prospective tenants are made to pay. Inspection fees, legal fees, caution fees, agency fees… and all this will come from the same pocket that will provide the rent. So, there are several ways that such things can be regulated.
As I said at the start of this post, there has to be a way to handle this in a way that won’t make things escalate. If you compel business owners to sell at a low price, losing profits could run them out of business, which would also harm the economy. Also, if you let them inflate the price as high as they want, it’ll make for a ripple effect that will circle right back to them and society at large.
One way the government can get a good handle on this is by working on the market, making it more competitive. When there are only a few players in the field, they can price it however they want. However, when there are many, every company will be doing its best to retain the few customers they have. So yeah, they should create a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. That’s the only way this will work.
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Nigeria, our country, always finding every opportunity to take advantage of the prices on consumers without considering how it’s going to affect them as long as they make profit. It’s not a bad thing to make profit but when it’s too much becomes greed.
You see the issue with landlords and rent fee increment, it's crazy and for real, the government needs to look into it
Not everything can be regulated I know, but in all, government hv a big role to play inorder to safeguard the economy
Price is truly strictly controlled by the government when it comes to the aspect of petrol and other crude oil resources. The price in my country depends on the individual. most people would want to cut people's necks just in the name of profit