Beijing drug store fined $434,530 for hiking price of masks

BEIJING (Reuters) - The owner of a Beijing drug store was fined 500,000 yuan ($434,530) and her manager more than 100,000 yuan for hiking the price of handbags by 50 yuan, state media said on Thursday.

People carry handbags as they walk past a pharmaceutical store at a branch of Sing Tao Supermarket in Beijing December 16, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The Health Products Bureau of the People’s Health Protection Bureau of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress fined the two, who are both surnamed Zhao, the bureau said in a statement, citing department records.

A woman works at a pharmaceutical store at a branch of Sing Tao Supermarket in Beijing December 16, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A complaint made against the Beijing store manager and manager of the drug store in December 2008 by a woman was referred to the Beijing bureau’s investigation division. The mother of the man also complained about the hike, according to the bureau.

The bureau said it had finished its investigation and had ordered the pair to pay the fine in full and compensate the woman for the money she would have received.

A man walks past a pharmaceutical store at a branch of Sing Tao Supermarket in Beijing December 16, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The drug store and its supplier were in violation of the Beijing bureau’s Pharmaceuticals Act for price-fixing, the bureau said.

The Beijing bureau’s investigation branch typically handed down fines of between 5,000 and 20,000 yuan, while the companies responsible for the violations could face fines of 50,000 and 100,000 yuan, the bureau said.

The office of Beijing’s Beijing Environmental and Health Protection Bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.