Charcoal Thai 1, an eatery in Singapore, has been investigated for breaching the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act with their prolonged "limited time" discounts.

This was revealed by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) on Aug. 19.

The act states that it is "unfair practice to represent that goods or services are available at a discounted price for a stated period of time if the supplier knows or ought to know that the goods and services will continue to be so available for a substantially longer period".

Investigations started in 2018

CCCS started investigating the restaurant in 2018.

It was discovered that no end date was stated on Charcoal Thai 1's promotional materials, which was published both offline and online.

Instead, the phrases “limited period only” and “Ending Soon! 50% Discount" were used to describe the meal discounts, which applied to lunch sets and steamboat items.

However, the promotions have been available for two years since February 2016, and continued to be so.

CCCS states that such claims are misleading to the consumers and provided Charcoal Thai 1 with an unfair advantage over businesses who have complied with the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA).

Restaurant to cease unfair practices

According to CCCS, Charcoal Thai 1 has since agreed to cease the unfair practice and not engage in any other unfair practices under the CPFTA.

This means that promotional materials or any other forms of publicity should specify an expiry date for related discounts.

Although the investigation has been closed, CCCS will continue to monitor the restaurant.

Top image via Charcoal Thai