Budget: App To Compare Prices Of Goods

February 24, 2020

The Government will require grocers to report prices to the Government, with the information to “be made available to the public via mobile application so that consumers can compare the difference in prices of staple goods.”

This was contained in the 2020 Budget, which was delivered by Minister of Finance Curtis Dickinson in Parliament on Friday.

The relevant portion of the Budget speech said “The Government acknowledges the impact that food prices have on the cost of living.

“In an effort to promote more price transparency and aid consumers in identifying alternative food pricing, the Government will be amending the Cost of Living Commission Act to require reporting of prices from grocers to the Government.

“This information will be made available to the public via mobile application so that consumers can compare the difference in prices of staple goods.

“Finally, the Government is working to support start-up and cooperative companies who are looking to supply foods at lower prices by partnering with the Financial Assistance programme to reduce costs not only to taxpayers but also to the general public.

“This is an innovative way in which money that is already being spent by the Government can be redirected to support competition in Bermuda and reduce food prices.”

click here Bermuda 2020 budget

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Comments (13)

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  1. Ringmasterr says:

    This is such a stupid idea, and only an underemployed Minister could come up with it. Sounds like electioneering. The cost of living can be reduced by less taxes. This App will likely require more civil servants and more expense, otherwise who is updating it? How often will it be updated and based on what criteria? Take eggs. You have small, medium, large and jumbo. Then there are numerous producers. Will the app list around 10 prices for a dozen eggs from the same store? What if the App price is different to the actual?
    Let the PLP/BIU start a supermarket themselves and show how easy it is to have cheaper prices.

    • skeptic says:

      …. oh but, they did operate a Coop Grocery which went bankrupt many years ago…..

    • wahoo says:

      They had a grocery store once before if I am not mistaken….

      • Ringmaster says:

        They did and it failed. Shows it’s not that easy. Changing the subject, how about an App that shows the bus timetable. No, no point in that. Or an App that shows telephone numbers for taxis? No, no point in that because they won’t show up anyway. An App that shows each MP and what they did each month so we taxpayers can see how our money is spent? Dream on.
        The PLP is treating Bermudians as idiots.

        • scooby says:

          An app for the buses would be really useful. If you had live tracking of the buses using GPS, it would be so much easier to catch your bus. Instead of having to wait at the stop not knowing if it’s ever going to come.

          Other cities have this functionality and it would be so simple for Bermuda. You could probably get school kids to design it as a technology challenge

  2. che says:

    This may increase the price of goods.
    You want to lower the price of food: stop taxing it.

  3. pukka says:

    Right, so instead of actually trying to lower prices across the board, they are simply forcing vendors to report their prices. The prices are already there, displayed for all to see on the shelves. It doesn’t take much to figure out which store sells what you need at a better price, and you shop accordingly.

    The Government should be concentrating on boosting a dying economy rather than just shuffling the deckchairs.

  4. JohnnyB says:

    This already exists on facebook…I hope you have consulted Ms. Dietz considering she has put in a tremendous amount of work and you most likely just stole her idea….

  5. Truth is killin’ me... says:

    JOKERS!

  6. Real Deal says:

    great idea to use tech and big data just need to work ai in there for management and its golden

  7. aceboy says:

    When the grocery stores add up the time all this reporting will take and the resources necessary to actually achieve it, they will then take that cost and spread it across all goods and prices for goods will go up even more. It’s the unintended consequence of a badly thought through policy….again.

  8. trump supporter says:

    Do they have an app for the minister that wasting the most time on taxpayers dollars.

  9. LOL says:

    A. Cost to develop, staff salaries with benefits & ongoing maintenance of app: paid for by taxpayers
    (but PLP Friends & Family employed)

    B. Cost of grocer compliance: passed onto the consumer as higher prices

    A + B = screwed again by the PLP