Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
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Without a minute’s hesitation, Justa López Díaz ran off to an agricultural produce stand run by a self-employed worker. A friend told him that they had produced pineapples at 15 CUP “I have a sick person at home and I needed the fruit, but when I arrived the ones that were available were small and 20 CUP”.
Two days later, Justa was shopping in the same place, located in the Marianao municipality, when a group from Havana’s Comprehensive Supervision and Control Directorate (DISC) made a surprise visit. On this occasion, he needs to buy onions “at 28 pesos I am not going to pay them, if the inspectors say that this variety is 15 CUP per pound, then at that price.”
This security guard who takes care of her sick father, like the rest of the clients who accumulated in front of the post, were benefited by the rectification of the prices of agricultural products carried out by the DISC “The population appreciates the forced sale and the correction of the amounts, and they take the opportunity to acquire the goods at the right price,” said Nosleydin Godínez Wilson, DISC inspector.
The onion price was not the only violation this self-employed worker had. “The burro banana and the cucumber are products that were not on the price slate, in addition the guava was at 10 CUP per pound, when it must be marketed at 7 pesos. The quality of the fruit was terrible, so it must have had a discount ”, warned Katiuska Alfonso Orozco, inspector of the State Directorate of Commerce.
This self-employed worker was violating Decree 30 of the Council of Minister on “Personal contraventions for violations of the price and tariff policy”. The novelty of the Decree is that it updates the amounts of the contraventions, putting them in tune with current realities: fines range from 2,500 to 15,000 pesos.
A few meters away, a carter exhibited his products: chili, onion, lemons and hidden in a bag some packages with black beans. A customer approached him to buy some lemons “how much the glass, he asked. The answer, 70 CUP ”. Luis Enrique Isaac Vázquez, DISC inspector said that this self-employed worker was also not complying with Decree 30, article, this time in article 7, subsection B “for which he was notified by one with a fine of 8,000 pesos.”
Onion, garlic, and chili pepper, as well as lemon – Isaac Vázquez pointed out – must be sold by the pound, not by glasses at the stipulated price for their commercialization.
Natalia María Vivanco Rodríguez, head of the Fine Department of Havana, said in an interview with Cubadebate that the main infractions of Decree 30 are related to price and tariff violations that are included in article 7, and in the case of wholesale sales, what is referred to in article 9.
In accordance with the provisions of the Decree, article 7 includes as violations:
- Do not expose to the public the board, letter or menu with the prices of the products and services that are offered. In this case the fines range from 5,000 pesos to 7,000 pesos, in addition to immediate compliance with the provisions.
- Charge for products or services prices or rates higher than those approved. The penalty is from 8,000 pesos to 10,000 pesos and the obligation to make the corresponding price changes.
“At the end of March 2021, 2,528 fines had been imposed, of which 49% had been collected, to this percent the treatment through the agreements is added, which accumulates 13%. In total, there would be a 68% collection ”, pointed out Vivanco Rodríguez.
The largest imposer of the fines – he stressed – is the Directorate of Inspection and Control with 77%, although they are not the only ones. The National Revolutionary Police, the municipal and provincial directorates of Finance and Prices and the Directorate of State Control of Commerce are also empowered.
The payment of the fines is made within thirty calendar days following their imposition. After that period has elapsed without payment being made, the amount of the fine is doubled.
“There is extensive management work in local governments and the offices of control and collection of fines to prevent people from doubling the amount. These people are visited, they are invited to pay the penalty and they are informed that after 30 days the decree establishes the formalization of the file to start a criminal process, “said the head of the Fine Department of Havana.
Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
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Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
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Forced sale. Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
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When the tree straightens
Panaderia-Dulcería Pinos Pan. Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
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More than two months ago, Cubadebate Together with the DISC of Havana, he visited the Pinos Pan Bakery-Sweet Shop, located in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo. On that occasion, Violations of standards were detected in the 100 gram bread and the 25 gram tortica, serious hygiene problems, as well as productions that did not have support.
Upon entering the establishment again, we realized that the change in administration had borne good results. “From the re-inspection carried out at the bakery, we found that hygiene has improved, as well as the quality of the productions. When sampling the 80-gram bread, it was possible to verify that for a production of 1,544 units they were within the established range ”, reported Nosleydin Godínez Wilson, DISC inspector.
Panaderia-Dulcería Pinos Pan. Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
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Panaderia-Dulcería Pinos Pan. Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
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See also
Control, keyword: How to deal with abusive and speculative prices?
On video, what happens when prices are violated?
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