The government is asking Cubans to report price violation by phone.

The Cuban government has asked citizens to report by telephone violations of the price caps that have just been imposed on six basic products.

The Ministry of Finance and Prices (MFP) expressed on its Twitter account that as part of a popular control movement, communication channels were established for each territory so that people can report price violations.

"We owe it to the people!" said the MFP, alongside an image with the phone number and email addresses that interested parties can contact.

Last Monday, the implementation of price caps on six essential products (five food items and laundry detergent) in high demand was announced as an effort to mitigate the impact of inflation on the population.

Resolution 225/2024 of the Ministry of Finance set the maximum retail prices for chicken, oil (except olive oil), powdered milk, pasta, sausages, and detergent.

The regulation will mainly affect micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which are the ones that currently market these six products the most. MLC stores will not be as affected, as they do not have availability of most of these foods.

Phone complaints would be added to the 7,000 inspectors that the MFP has prepared to enforce the provision.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Lourdes Rodríguez, confirms that inspectors have been joined by officials who were trained to enforce Decree 30, which regulates the crackdown on price violations.

Recently, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices of Cuba, Lourdes Rodríguez Ruiz, held a tense meeting with entrepreneurs and managers of SMEs to inform about the decision to cap the prices of essential products.

In the meeting, the merchants argued three structural problems of the Cuban economy that make it difficult for them to comply with government regulations: the distortion of the exchange rate, the tax pressure on micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and the shortage of fuel to transport goods.