As Sri Lanka continues to grapple with the ever-increasing inflation rates, the prices of goods and services have been constantly on the rise over the past few weeks. Posts of price increases of day-to-day items is a common sight on social media these days. In this backdrop claims of alleged price increase of safety wax match boxes went viral, initially in Tamil then later on in Sinhala and English as well.
Social Media Posts
This is how viral claims were posted on social media stating that the new price of a match box is 40 Sri Lankan Rupees.
Here are few more posts in Sinhala, as the claims of match box price increase went viral.
Fact Check:
First, we searched local mainstream media to find whether any news items were published of a decision to increase the match box price up to Rs. 40/=. But we couldn’t find any such reports.
Accordingly, we made inquiries from several key matchbox companies in Sri Lanka to ascertain the facts.
Soorya Matchbox
We inquired with the Sunmatch company about the alleged new price of the Soorya match boxes.
Company representative stated that the news was completely false and that the current selling price of a matchbox in the market so far was Rs. 09/- and the new price has been increased to Rs. 12/-, and will be in the market from 01st of May, and the price revision had been done due to shortages of raw material.
However, he assured that the match box price has never been increased to Rs. 40/- . He further stated that a match box could not be sold for Rs. 40/- at any time as its price was printed on the back of the match box.
Delma ,Star & Lion Matchboxes
Next, we contacted Delma Match Company , the producers of Delma, Star & Lion safety wax matches, about the new price increase, claimed on viral social media posts.
They stated that the market price of a match box is currently Rs.10/-, however, negotiations are currently underway to increase the price of a matchbox, yet the price would not be increased anywhere close to Rs. 40/- and that the new price of a match box could be around Rs. 15/- or less.
DIAMOND Matchboxes
The official Facebook account of Diamond Match Company Pvt Ltd also stated the new MRP of a Diamond match box would be Rs. 12/-
We couldn’t get in touch with Sunrise industries Pvt Ltd, the producer of Spark safety wax match boxes yet and intend to update the article with their version as well.
Follow us and stay up to date with our latest fact checks.
Facebook | Twitter |Instagram | Google News
Conclusion :
Our investigation shows that the posts circulating on social media claiming that the price of a safety match box had been increased to Rs. 40/- is false. Some matchbox companies have already increased the MRP of match boxes to Rs.12/- while others are in the process of finalizing the new prices. However, all the matchbox company representatives assured that the new price would not come even close to Rs.40/- and the new prices would not exceed Rs. 15/-
Title:Price of a Matchbox has NOT been Increased to Rs. 40!
Fact Check By: Pavithra SandamaliResult: False
