Reports of Pa. price gouging rise into the thousands amid coronavirus pandemic: attorney general

State officials have investigated roughly 3,300 reports of price gouging as Pennsylvania residents and retailers alike grapple with supply shortages during the coronavirus.

As of Thursday, 170 cease-and-desist letters have been sent to businesses significantly upping the prices on high-demand items, such as hand sanitizer, toilet paper or select food items, according to a spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

One such letter was sent to a Harrisburg drug store that tried to sell nine rolls of toilet paper for $21.99. A Middletown grocery store received one for increasing the price of beef from $4 to $7.75, the attorney general’s spokesman said.

While issuing a statewide disaster declaration, Gov. Tom Wolf put protections into place to guard against price gouging. Under state emergency rules, Pennsylvania businesses are banned from selling products for 20 percent more than their average cost in the week preceding an emergency declaration.

Read more: https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/reports-of-pa-price-gouging-rise-into-the-thousands-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-attorney-general.html