In: Operations Management
Identify one act or law that regulates pricing. Briefly summarize the law and describe how the law regulates pricing and protects either the consumer or business or both.
Give an example of a case or situation where this law was put into practice. Provide your own interpretations, opinions, and conclusions about this case or situation.
The name of the law or act that regulates the price is the Price Control Act, 1964. The law has restricted by the government to mark the appropriate charge for the goods and services. To slow the inflation rate, and to keep on maintaining the availability of goods during the shortage, this law can be utilized accordingly. The price controls are broadly divided into two major types: Price Ceiling and Price Floor. Price ceiling replicates the price that can be maximally charged and price floor is the price that can be charged at a minimum. The price controls are fixed by the government under the control act of 1964. The price controls protect the customers to get avail of the products in the market with the original product price. The business owners get the scope to do their business successfully and it helps to keep their target audience maintained as because many startups or mid-level company’s un-officially lowers the product price to get the customers attention and this unethical process makes the big companies facing the trouble in sustaining their business properly.
The law is basically utilized in the online store in which the price is clearly mentioned to the buyers but not only an online store, this law has also been utilized in the originally registered trademark shopping centers that generate proper billing to the buyers; they put the exact price figure to follow the government norms. Basically, the organizations that welcome customers and keep the real transparency of the prices are uses this act of price control and maintain an ethical process.
Interpretations: The Price Control Act, 1964 is the important act that is necessary to keep under a static form because it will keep the consistency of the product price. The business owners can explore their self-business with a proper estimation of the price control as price influences the customers to choose the product from the market. Many companies un-officially decide and label their own price that makes a major difference between a good product and bad product. The customers are sometimes getting confused and unable to decide, they also got cheated by paying the higher price of the product instead of the product may be of the lower price. A control in price is necessary to be mandated in the market so that the genuine process of pricing can be made.
Opinions: The Price control is the obvious actions that are necessary to be formulated in the market to keep the price range of the product at a stable state and this will make the process of dealing ethically to the highest standard by maintaining the customers relationship and the business owners also get the scope to make their self-business sustain in the market. Lowering or uprising the product price can make the certain profit for a limited time; this process is absolutely unethical as per the rules of the government. The customers may get puzzled and some business owners may face a negative competitive advantage which can make their business down as the startup may unable to get revenue from the market.
Conclusions: The companies and consumers both must be aware of the Price Control Act, 1964 and make a proper ethical judgment so that the rule must be followed as per the price control act suggest. The consumers must be aware of the control acts and it will help them to make the proper sense of buying any product from the market. The business from startup to big MNCs, all should come under the control act so that they can establish themselves in the open ground by following the ethical measures of the price control act, 1964.