Energy Minister George Papanastasiou on Tuesday urged the House commerce committee to pass a bill which would set maximum prices for bottled water at some points of sale to a plenary parliament session with the aim of having the price cap in place by February 1.
The latest iteration of the bill on the matter includes bottles of four different sizes – 330 millilitres, 500ml, 750ml, and one litre – with Papanastasiou saying that it also foresees a uniform price across the board in the points of sale which will be included in the law.
“The aim is to provide a product to the market with a reasonable profit margin for all the businesses, and, at the same time, to protect consumers,” he said.
To this end, he added that the new bill will also require that there be “sufficient water” at affected points of sale to be sold at the limited price, thus precluding instances wherein people are forced to buy more expensive water because a business refuses to sell water bottles as outlined in the decree.
Disy MP Averof Neophytou expressed reservations, saying that based on the current agreement regarding the sale of water at the Larnaca and Paphos airports, “the first 23 cents of the gross income goes to the state coffers”.
He asked how this “compares to the reasonable profit made by a kiosk or a football stadium”, and described the bill as a “firework” which “will cost the consumer more in the end”.
Akel MP Costas Costa said he welcomed Papanastasiou’s changes to the bill, but also asked about the planned methodology regarding the retail price and “whether a problem arises if the price is uniform for all Cypriot waters”.
The original bill to set maximum prices on bottled water had been approved by cabinet in March last year and put before the House commerce committee the following month.
Back in March, Papanastasiou had said some retailers may react negatively to the plan, as, “they would like to be able to set prices themselves in a free market.”
However, he said, “when it comes to some products, such as water, the price must somehow be controlled, because at these specific points of sale some prices are not justified.”
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