retail margins

Serbia’s price cap regulation faces criticism as experts call for stronger competition enforcement

Serbia has completed the first month of implementing the Regulation on Special Conditions for Trading Certain Goods, which caps retail margins at 20% for 23 categories of essential products. While aimed at lowering prices for consumers, experts note that price regulation does not equate to consumer protection, as pricing is fundamentally an economic issue influenced by market conditions. The regulation applies to large retailers and distributors, requiring them to submit detailed price lists to the Ministry, but preliminary observations indicate…