PRICE MONITORING AND CONTROL APPLICATION - Observatory of Public Sector Innovation

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and to promote rational purchasing behaviour for welfare of consumers, the Government has developed a price monitoring and control application called “Mopri” with the aims to provide a single interactive platform for comparing retail prices of essential commodities across different outlets, to report any complaints on real time basis and provide information on regulated prices and policies.

Innovation Summary

Innovation Overview

Mauritius has adopted several strategies to protect the consumers against the upside volatiles of retail prices of essential commodities and prevent further erosion of purchasing power of consumers in their daily basic consumptions. The Government has come forward with an innovative project which is a Price Monitoring and Control Application- “Mopri”, with the objectives :

• provide a single platform for consumers to access information on retail prices practiced by different popular retail outlets for essential commodities which allow them to compare prices of products and make an intelligent purchasing decision,
• facilitate the reporting of complaints directly by consumers to the concerned department in a real-time manner; and
• allow follow-up on progress made in resolving issues reported.

This provides an opportunity for consumers for more savings and rational consumption through better information on the retail prices on different mostly consumed essential commodities. The mobile application is not only useful to consumers but to traders, Government and to other stakeholders for information gathering on the evolution of retail prices on essential commodities. The Ministry uses the platform to make further analysis on the evolution of prices and to monitor the prices whether there is need for any government intervention.

The operationalisation of Mopri involves the collection of retail and promotional prices across more than 50 outlets and on more than 450 most consumed essential commodities from the 10th to 20th of each month. The selection of the retail outlets and the constitution of the basket of the essential commodities were established using a systematic approach such as surveys. The underlying fundamentals of the mobile application were inspired by the monitoring mechanism used in India, European Food Prices Monitoring Tool, Observatory of Food Prices and Margins in France, Price monitoring in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain

Mopri has a limitation which involve delays in release of the retail prices as the prices are collected from 10th to 20th of each month and being uploaded at the end of collection period. Thus, given the dynamism of the market, the prices are subject to constant changes which render the prices on the mobile application to lose accuracy. Consequently, major amendments have been made in the relevant legislation such as the Consumer Protection Act, so as to mandate the retail outlets to submit any information in relation to price of commodities being sold.

The consumers will be having access to real time retail prices across the retail outlets at any point in time. Moreover, the basket of commodities will be reviewed to include additional consumer goods and will be extended to other sector such as pharmaceutical products and construction materials. In addition, the number of outlets will be increased to include more point of sales for more information and accuracy in rational purchase.

Innovation Description

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

Mopri is the first African innovative consumer mobile application which provide distinct features for the consumers and other concerned stakeholders. The aims are to make rational decisions and enable savings on consumption by providing maximum information on the retail prices on most consumed essential commodities,

The consumers can customise their own basket of commodities whereby same can be compared with other retail outlets in their surroundings. The consumers do no longer require to consult the catalogues or website of each and every retail outlet.

Mopri enables consumers to flag and report any violations on spot and same is attended by the Ministry in the shortest delay possible or on spot. The consumers are kept informed on all the matters in relation to price control mechanism and it has been made easily adaptable to all types of consumers as it enables the uploading of a photo of the market anomalies e.g such as non-affixing of retail prices or unfair pricing.

What is the current status of your innovation?

The phase 1 of the project has already been launched on 18 May 2023. With the current market dynamics and feedback received from users, the mobile app is called for continuous improvement and innovation. Mopri has a limitation which involve delays in release of the retail prices as the prices are collected from 10th to 20th of each month and being uploaded at the end of collection period. Thus, given the dynamism of the market, the prices are subject to constant changes which render the prices on the app to lose accuracy.

The enhancement of the mobile application is underway and it is being referred as the phase 2. It consists of getting the mobile application more dynamic with the real time data such as retail prices. The relevant legislation such as the Consumer Protection Act has already been amended to enable retail outlets to upload real time prices. In addition, for the phase 2 of the project, this will include the use of artificial intelligence for more usage efficiency.

Innovation Development

Collaborations & Partnerships

The development of the ‘MOPRI’ mobile application was elaborated by the Ministry under the Public Sector Transformation Scheme of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council. The mobile application was developed by an awarded private company and involved the collaboration of Government officials of different Ministries, telecommunication companies, private retail outlets, Retailers Associations and the Consumer Associations.

Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

The consumers are able to get information about the retail prices, report complaints and gather information on a single platform for their welfare while the Ministry are able to get vast information on the evolution of the retail prices as the mobile application has the ability to generate back-end reports which are being used for policy analysis and development. The retail outlets adapt with competition with access to retail prices of competitors under the sight of the Associations.

Innovation Reflections

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

The application has been downloaded by more than 7,500 users. and 15 complaints have been received through the mobile app and 13 has already been resolved while 2 complaints are waiting for mediation. The progress on the number of downloads and the number of complaints received/solved and feedbacks , are continuously monitored by the Ministry.

In addition, 6 monitoring and analytical reports have been conducted based on the data on the mobile app and submitted to policy makers for an assessment of market prices and policies. Through these reports, the Ministry has pioneered a ‘child allowance scheme’ (a monthly financial assistance to children). The number of downloads is expected to increase due to the ongoing awareness campaigns.

Challenges and Failures

The development of the mobile app faced some challenges such as the retail outlet objected to the ranking supermarket based on the cheapest outlets. The matter was solved based on re-adjustment of the display of the retail prices of retail outlets for a win-win agreement. As agreed, only the retail prices will be displayed and the cheapest outlet will be on onus of the consumer based on judgements.

In addition, the software developer had issues with the hosting of the application on the Government server due to security issues and administrative delays . The issues were solved based on high level meetings and establishments of agreements on security and use of the Server.

Conditions for Success

The conditions for the successful development of the innovative mobile application innovation requires:
• Supportive organisation structure and commitment of policy makers for innovation and change;
• Willingness to change and adapt to new dynamism;
• Strong leadership and commitment of officials;
• Robust IT infrastructure to support all innovations such as real time application;
• Financial resources; and
• Personal values such as transparency, fairness, integrity, innovation and motivation of each and every stakeholder involved in this project (e.g retail outlets, software developer, consumer associations and other stakeholders

Replication

The innovation is the first mobile application in Africa to display the retail prices of more than 450 most consumed essential commodities across more than 50 retail outlets and report issues on a real time basis. The innovation has not been replicated yet for other usages.

However, with the increasing number of downloads and the improvements being made to the mobile application, it is expected that the underlying mechanism of the mobile application may be replicated for other purposes such as real estate rentals, second hand motor vehicles dealers, Environment and climate change, agricultural market fairs, amongst others.

Lessons Learned

The conceptualisation, development and implementation of the mobile application has been an enriching experience. For successful innovation, we need commitment and drive for change and innovation, personal motivation , an innovation led management, team spirit and trust and the need to constantly acquire knowledge through research, information gathering and experience sharing sessions.

From the development phase to implementation phase, lots of challenged have been met but there has been always the willingness to look for solutions and alternatives. Continuous feedbacks and improvements are the keys for successful and sustainable innovation. One should always stay open to new opportunities