Jumia Delists 168 Face Mask, Sanitizer Vendors For ‘Ripping Off’ Nigerians

JUMIA Nigeria has delisted 390 products belonging to 168 sellers of hand sanitizers and face masks for arbitrary price increases following the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

This was according to the statement from the Chairwoman, Nigeria & Head of Institutional Affairs, Jumia Group, Juliet C. Anammah, to the Chief Executive Officer, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Babatunde Irukera.

After the Outbreak of COVID19 in February 27, vendors across the country engaged in price gouging and arbitrary increases in prices of protective and hygiene products.

However, FCCPC warned against this action saying the practice violated both moral codes and extant law.”Abusing citizens’ sensitivity, apprehension, anxiety & vulnerability, especially during emergencies that could adversely affect national security is a violation of the law,” the statement said. 

To ensure that these sellers don’t take further advantage of Nigerians, Jumia said the website was undergoing hourly checks and clean up as sellers may try to relist products.

“We are manually selecting now only SKUs with the best prices to be listed. A further communication has been sent to all sellers to notify them that we will delist all SKUs with prices seen to be taking advantage of the situation.

“We have also partnered with Reckitt Benckiser across Africa (manufacturer of sanitisers) to reduce the prices of their products on our site while we take 0% commission on all their sanitizer sold on our site.”

Meanwhile, the E-Commerce company said it had identified a seller that could supply protective products directly to ensure that essential items are re-listed at better prices.