Hungary Implements New Government System for Shopping
Hungary to Launch Online Price Monitoring System to Combat Inflation
In March, the Hungarian government announced that it would launch an online price monitoring system to tackle increasing inflation rates. The details of the scheme have now been published in a decree. Hungary’s inflation rate is the highest in the European Union, standing at 25.6%, with Latvia coming in second at 17.2%.
The government has created a working group dedicated to setting up an online price-monitoring system to help combat inflation. The system will begin to operate on 1st July in Hungary, and the focus will be on major supermarket chains such as Aldi, Lidl, Spar, and Penny. According to the new regulation, supermarkets with a net income above HUF 100 billion (EUR 270 million) in 2022 must provide compulsory data reports.
The online price monitoring system will track the daily and customer loyalty prices of 60 target product categories in each supermarket. These categories include pork leg, white bread, 1.5% ESL milk, Trappista cheese, idared apples, sausages, margarine, butter, and spaghetti. The database will not consider reduced prices due to a product’s expiry date being less than 72 hours.
Each company must upload its relevant prices by the end of the preceding day and submit target product prices from the previous year until August. Stores not subject to the scheme may participate voluntarily. The Hungarian Competition Authority will manage the database, which will allow customers to compare prices transparently and efficiently, aiming to prevent overpricing and increase competition.
Moreover, the government hopes this scheme will result in lower prices for consumers in Hungary. The government anticipates a rapid decrease in the inflation rate over the summer, aiming for a single-digit rate by the end of the year. In March, Hungary’s inflation reached 25.2%, with food price inflation up 42.6% compared to last year, and household energy prices rose by 43.1%.
