The Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Protection has come up with the initiative of developing the price monitoring and control application, ‘MOPRI’, enabling consumers to make informed purchase decisions through its features, namely a Price comparator, Basket of goods and report a problem. It was launched by the Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Darsanand Balgobin, and the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr Soodesh Callichurn, on 18 May 2023.
The ‘MOPRI’ application is a joint endeavour of the Verde Frontier Solutions Ltd, the Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Protection, and the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation. It was elaborated under the Public Sector Transformation Scheme of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council. The ‘MOPRI’ project is the second initiative being completed under the Public Sector Transformation Scheme.
MOPRI is a digital platform implemented to enhance the effectiveness of the Price Monitoring and Control mechanism and the smooth implementation of the Price Observatory.
With the implementation of the project, the country is crossing a new milestone in consumer protection for ‘MOPRI’ would ease the task of simplifying price monitoring. The application would also facilitate the reporting of complaints directly by consumers, almost instantly, and allow follow-up on progress made in resolving issues reported. It would enable the flagging of defaulting traders, allowing officers of this Ministry to respond more quickly and conduct their enforcement duties. It will help officers better organise their daily site visit based on the red flag raised by the Application where traders are abusing the consumers. This software will be also very useful especially during situation such as pandemic (COVID 19) or any market distortions where more desktop price monitoring is required.
‘MOPRI’ comprises of a website, a User Application and an Inspector Application as well as back office interface. The new application is expected to be more citizen-focused where consumers will have access to the retail prices of a basket of 100 commodities, that is more than 450 brands being disseminated on ‘MOPRI’ in an impartial manner. Going forward, the defined basket of commodities will be reviewed on a regular basis.
With the recent amendments brought to the Consumer Protection (Price and Supplies Control) Act, the retail outlets will be required to submit any information in relation to commodities being sold in his retail outlet, including the retail prices of such commodities, in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
MOPRI can be downloaded on App Store, Google Play and Huawei App Gallery.
