Is it illegal to raise tobacco prices during the epidemic?

Operators engaged in the retail business of tobacco products fabricate and spread information about price increases, drive up prices, or collude with each other to manipulate market prices, and their actions have violated the provisions of Article of China's laws. The main body of infringement is to harm the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. According to Chinese laws, the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau has the right to impose the following penalties on its illegal acts:

Can be ordered to suspend the tobacco monopoly business, rectification within a time limit, until the cancellation of its qualification to engage in tobacco monopoly business. If the business qualification is cancelled, the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau shall make a decision not to issue a tobacco monopoly retail license according to law within three years.

May be fined not more than five times the illegal income; If there is no illegal income, a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan shall be imposed; if the circumstances are serious, a fine of not less than 500,000 yuan but not more than 3 million yuan shall be imposed; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification or revoke its business license.

What compensation does the price fraudster have for consumer fraud?

If an operator drives up the price to deceive consumers in the process of providing tobacco products, according to the provisions of Article 40 and Article 55, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests in People's Republic of China (PRC) (hereinafter referred to as the Consumer Law), consumers have the right to demand compensation for their losses, that is, three times the price of the goods purchased by consumers; If the increased amount of compensation is less than that of 500 yuan, it shall be calculated in 500 yuan.

To sum up, if the price increase of tobacco during the epidemic is illegal, the subject of infringement is to harm the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

Legal basis: People's Republic of China (PRC) Tobacco Monopoly Law Article 3 The State shall exercise monopoly management over the production, sale, import and export of tobacco monopoly products and implement a tobacco monopoly license system according to law.