A LARGE proportion of people who have gone online to get hold of essential hygiene and medical products during the pandemic have been forced to pay prices up to 20 times higher than normal, new figures suggest.

New research investigating 1,500 reports sent to a 'price-gouging' reporting tool over the last two months shows that more than 696 (47%) were about essential hygiene or medical products that people vitally need during this pandemic.

And analysis shows one in three reported they had been forced to out to opportunistic sellers who have sought to exploit the crisis by price gouging.

It has prompted calls for the fair trade regulator Competition and Markets Authority to be given sharper teeth to deal with price-gouging, after losing a crucial legal fight last month.

Concerns have been raised about thousands of essential products being offered and sold on online marketplaces at up to 20 times the usual price in what is being described as the coronavirus crisis "rip-off".

Which? has found that the average percentage price difference for hygiene products such as hand sanitiser and disinfectant was 414 per cent - five times the price on average.

The CMA has announced it is investigating four pharmacies and convenience stores for the suspected charging of excessive and unfair prices for hand sanitiser.

In recent months, the CMA has been lobbying for new powers to tackle price gouging having identified the practice as a gap in its current enforcement regime.

Other countries, such as the US and France, have brought in emergency legislation to deal with opportunistic price practices, but so far the UK government has not followed suit.

The gap in enforcement was expressly recognised by CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli in May this year who reportedly said that "consumer and competition law are not really designed for emergencies".

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But experts say cases involving price-gouging are relatively uncommon and have proven problematic for competition authorities.

Last month, the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the UK overturned a £90 million fine against Pfizer and Flynn Pharma issued by the CMA for charging unfair prices for phenytoin sodium capsules ruling it was not abuse.

Originally Pfizer manufactured and sold the capsules to UK wholesalers and pharmacies under the brand name Epanutin for epilepsy and at one point the NHS price rocketed by 2,600% in 2012.

The new analysis by the consumer organisation Which? reveals that despite bids to shut down price-gouging of essential goods the issues both online and in-store continues to be rife.

It is calling for emergency legislation to give the regulator effective tools to swiftly crack down on price gouging of essential products.

Sue Davies, head of consumer protection at Which?, said: “It’s good the CMA is now attempting to take action to investigate some instances of price gouging using competition law. However, the government should be helping the regulator by giving it more targeted powers to take swifter action to stamp out price gouging, and ensure the price of essential items stays at reasonable levels during a crisis when people need them most.”

Most reports related to alleged profiteering by sellers online, with tech giants Amazon and eBay accounting for the majority of listings.

Three-quarters (75%) of items with inflated prices of hundreds reported to Which? between April and June were seen online, either on marketplaces or through online shops, while 25 per cent were spotted in-store.

Among the cases logged with the Competition and Markets Authority Covid-19 taskforce - are Dettol handwash being sold via Amazon for £14.99 rather than £1.49 and a packet of paracetamol on sale in a local store for more than seven times the usual price.

"These significant price hikes on items have affected vulnerable people with underlying health conditions as well as key workers who had no choice but to go out and work," said the consumer organisation.

Other examples reported to Which? by consumers were medical-grade face masks that might be required by key workers, including an N95 face mask for £28.99 - nearly 20 times the usual price according to the tool user - via a medical supply website . Another person reported seeing the same mask on sale on the website for £14.99 - 10 times the usual price, they reported.

Four in 10 (40%) of the essential hygiene products which were reported as having inflated prices were hand sanitiser and soap.

Across all product categories, nearly one in three had bought an item at an inflated price while four in 10 of those (40%) reported that they simply had to go without because of the excessive price of the product.

Hundreds of people, both those that had bought an item at the inflated price and those that had gone without, told Which? that they felt the price was unfair and exploitative.

In March, the CMA published an open letter to the pharmaceutical and food and drinks industries, warning them against unfair pricing practices and to not take advantage of product shortages to unjustifiably increase prices.

Since then the CMA has reported that it has received thousands of complaints from consumer relating to the prices of certain retail products, in particular for hand sanitiser. These complaints were second only to complaints about a lack of refunds in the holiday sector.

Amazon said: “There is no place for price gouging on Amazon. When a bad actor attempts to artificially raise prices on basic need products during a global health crisis, it’s bad for customers and the hundreds of thousands of honest businesses selling in our store. In line with our long-standing policy, we have recently blocked or removed hundreds of thousands of offers and pursued legal action against hundreds of bad actors across a number of countries.”

And eBay said: “The single listing that Which? was able to share with us was reviewed and removed for reasons unrelated to price gouging.”