Statutory Pricing Committee. (Section 22G) The encouraging thing about the bill is that its overall theme in terms of the objectives is the commitment to make products and services affordable. The well-intentioned notion of the statutory Pricing Committee will not bring about the desired result. Its unintended consequences, amongst others, will be price fixing and its corollary the distortion of prices and the possibility of price subsidisation to correct the distortions. Affordable prices occur on the basis of competition among the providers of goods and services and their unimpeded interaction with consumers. In this scenario the consumers are not at the mercy of the providers. In order to bring about competitive prices the government has to bring about in the relevant industries/services a dispensation that will remove unnecessary barriers to entry and minimise the cost of entry in the industry. This will allow more providers of goods and services to participate in the competition to please the consumer, virtually putting the general industry at the behest of the consumer. The rule of thumb is therefore : THE MORE COMPETITION THE MERRIER. There is NO need for a statutory Pricing Committee the setting up and functioning of which, besides the reasons cited, would entail more expenditure on the part of government.
