No Businesses Flagged Publicly For Price Gouging During Pandemic

By Benjamin Cox on August 31, 2020 at 11:00am

A screenshot of pricing on hand sanitizer during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has flagged no businesses to date for price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in late March, Governor J.B. Pritzker said during one of his daily COVID-19 press briefings that price gouging wouldn’t be tolerated on heavy mark-ups to essential gear and PPE. An Associated Press public-records request disclosed one complaint of price gouging, submitted by a consumer and forwarded to the attorney general.

According to the AP, officials say they’ve been unable to compile statistics on the more than 1,800 price complaints turned into the AG’s consumer protection division because the pandemic has forced staff to work remotely. The AG’s office has not responded to questions by the AP on any price-gouging court action. The AP says that the consumer protection division acted on several instances informally and had the issues solved without court action. The Attorney General’s Office has said it has not publicly decided whether to release information on all outcomes of price-gouging being investigated.