Nonthaburi, The Secretary-General of the Trade Competition Commission (TCC) clearly responded that the case of EV cars with discounts of up to 340,000 baht does not violate the trade competition law, and will cooperate with the Department of Internal Trade to strictly enforce the law of the 2 agencies to strictly control and take care of consumers and the business sector. Mr. Wisanu Wongsinsirikul, Secretary-General of the Trade Competition Commission (TCC), spoke about the case where a manufacturer of electric vehicles or EVs reduced the selling price of some electric vehicle models by up to 340,000 baht per unit. In terms of doing business, he believes that this case does not fall under the category of actions that violate trade competition laws because the selling price was not lower than the cost. In this case, it is the consumers who are directly affected, which will be taken care of by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board or OCPB. According to the Trade Competition Act of 2017, it will primari ly oversee business operations. There are many cases that can be considered as illegal acts, such as reducing the selling price below the cost. However, from the current investigation, the manufacturer is reducing the price by using the method of taking a loss of profit, and the price sold in Thailand is still higher than the price in China, which is the country of manufacture, which is considered normal. 'Therefore, this case does not constitute an offence and there has been no complaint whatsoever. However, if irregularities or behavior that may constitute an offence, such as taking advantage of suppliers by forcing them to lower prices, or lowering prices to take advantage of competitors, this law allows for inspections, documents, or an invitation to a discussion. It also allows manufacturers to lower their selling prices below cost, but there must be a business reason and they must do so within a limited period, such as when the product is running low on stock or to test the market, such as in the case of buy 1 get 1 free,' said Mr. Wisanu. In addition, the Department of Internal Trade has joined hands with the Office of Trade Competition Commission to sign an MOU on promoting and supervising business operations to ensure free and fair competition to strengthen cooperation in supervising and promoting free and fair trade competition. Mr. Wattanasak Suea-iam, Director-General of the Department of Internal Trade, and Mr. Wisanu Wongsinsirikul, Secretary-General of the Trade Competition Commission, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the promotion and supervision of free and fair competition between the Department of Internal Trade and the Office of the Trade Competition Commission (OTCC). The signing of this MOU is to enhance the potential to supervise and promote fair domestic trade competition by government agencies. The Department of Internal Trade is an agency with an important duty to enhance domestic trade efficiency to be fair for entrepreneurs, along with taking care of people and consumer s nationwide to ensure that their benefits are protected. For the signing of the MOU with the OTC, However, there are 3 main objectives: to integrate and coordinate work in both promotion and supervision of business operators, to help create an atmosphere of free and fair trade competition, to enhance cooperation in developing potential and knowledge in both promotion and supervision of both parties, including to exchange information on business operations to support supervision of business operations of goods and services, and to use in determining appropriate policies. Mr. Wisanu said that the Office of the NBTC is very pleased to have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Internal Trade today. The Office of the NBTC has an important mission to set the framework of rules and supervise business operations to create free and fair trade competition and to enhance knowledge and understanding of trade competition laws. The cooperation activities in the memorandum of understanding between the two agencies include 6 areas: coordinating policies of senior executives, dissemination and public relations, exchanging information, working together, exchanging knowledge on operations between agencies, and enforcing each agency's laws on issues related to competition. It is expected that the cooperation between the two agencies will help drive the missions of each agency to be more connected and promote effective care for the business sector and the public for the benefit of all relevant parties. Source: Thai News Agency