EXCESSIVE PRICING DURING A PANDEMIC: IS IT AN ANTI-COMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR?
Ria Setyawati, Dian Purnama Anugerah, Ari Prasetyo

Law Faculty, Universitas Airlangga

Abstract

The Corona outbreak emerged in China on November 17th, 2019. With the status of the corona virus determined by WHO as a pandemic and Indonesia as a non-natural national disaster, the Government in overcoming this disaster planed to impose lock downs and discipline people to carry out social distancing. The prices of daily necessities also crept up following the prices of goods, relating to Covid-19 good needs, such as masks, hand sanitizers, and disinfectants, which previously increased many times over normal prices. The behavior to set the price escessively knew as excessive pricing. In dealing with excessive pricing behavior, the government needs a special study related to this matter and requires input to provide strategic ideas.
This research focuses on two legal issues, that is: What are the characteristics of excessive pricing behavior from business actors? Is excessive pricing behavior a form of unfair business competition behavior?
The stages of this research method are normative legal research using a shortened statute approach, conceptual approach and a comparative approach.
The study results concluded formulations a strategic form of regulatory development as a strategy to deal with excessive pricing behavior during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Keywords: excessive pricing, competition law

Topic: Trade and Business