A former senior regulator has accused the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) of abandoning its consumer protection role and warned that a recent change in fuel-pricing practice may have pushed up costs for ordinary Fijians. Pranil Singh, who served as the FCCC’s General Manager Regulations and acted as CEO, says the commission has effectively become a “rubber stamp” for industry price increases instead of actively challenging and negotiating to limit the burden on households.
In an opinion piece, Singh said the FCCC deviated from its established pricing methodology by incorporating March fuel imports into the April pricing determination, rather than using February costs under the standard framework. “FCCC has confirmed… that March fuel imports were incorporated into the April pricing determination, representing a clear departure from the approved methodology,” he wrote, arguing that the practice likely exerted upward pressure on fuel prices and therefore on transport, food and other essential goods.
Singh stressed that the structured pricing model exists to give government and regulators time to assess mitigation measures before increases take effect. By folding more recent import costs into the next pricing round, he said, the commission removed that buffer and accelerated the pass-through of global price spikes to consumers. That concern echoes longstanding warnings from the consumer watchdog community that Fiji’s full reliance on imported fuel makes domestic prices highly sensitive to short-term global movements.
The former regulator contrasted the FCCC’s present approach with past practice under former CEO Joel Abraham, when Singh says the commission more robustly questioned industry submissions and negotiated reductions in some price requests. “In periods of global cost pressures, FCCC’s role is not simply to pass through cost increases. It is to actively assess, challenge, and negotiate,” he wrote, urging the commission to return to that posture.
Singh also raised questions about governance at the FCCC, criticizing the board’s apparent allowance of pricing decisions without what he described as adequate scrutiny. “If these actions reflect a lack of judgment… then this must be addressed decisively,” he said, calling for a leadership review to restore confidence in the regulator’s independence and effectiveness.
The latest intervention increases pressure on the FCCC to publicly explain its methodology change and the rationale behind it. Singh called on the commission to provide a full explanation and justification for departing from established policy, and to demonstrate the transparency and accountability he says are necessary for consumer-facing pricing decisions. The debate comes amid wider public unease about rising living costs, with critics urging stronger consumer protections as global price volatility continues to ripple through Fiji’s import-dependent economy.
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