Bulgaria's consumer protection commission (KZP) has fined retail chains more than €110,000 in total for unfair practices towards customers and suppliers, commission chair Maya Manolova said.
Shoppers saw a different price at the till from the one shown on the shelf, and came across misleading labels. Some promotional goods ran out on the first day of the promotion.
The chains charged suppliers fees for crates. "This way, the crates cost the supplier €36 a month, while a crate itself is worth €3.50," Manolova told BNT.
Because of the crates, a trader cannot properly show where a product comes from or mark its own brand, she said.
Manolova said the practice breaks the Competition Protection Act, which sets a fine of up to 10% of a chain's turnover.