The State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control under the Ministry of Economy appealed to businesses to prevent manipulation of prices in terms of rising demand for goods on the eve of the New Year holidays.

“Consumers must be provided with accurate and reliable information on the prices of goods offered. All goods for sale should have an accurate price tag indicating the name, type, price and date of filling of the goods. Since the selling price of a product is exactly the price indicated on it (on the counter or in the display cases), settlements with consumers must be made at that price. When paying, any demand on a consumer to pay a price that differs from the price indicated on the goods is a violation of the consumer’s rights,” the petition says.

In this connection, the Code of Administrative Offences provides for administrative liability in the form of a fine. This year the State Service received 67 appeals related to fraudulent pricing of goods, which is up by 36.7% from the last year. Based on the complaints received, a protocol for imposing a fine was drawn up for 10 businessmen.

Chairman of Free Consumers Association NGO Eyyub Huseynov believes that the violation of price discipline in terms of free pricing is quite common phenomenon in Azerbaijan. “According to our estimates, every year consumers of goods and services lose about AZN 500 million because of unfair pricing policies of entrepreneurs. This applies not only to price discrepancies in the shop window and on the cash voucher, but complete absence of the price of sold goods in shop windows and counters.

Owing to the transition to cashless payments in the trade network, this phenomenon has acquired a new character, for the consumer is not able to control the card account in time,” the head of the consumer organisation stated.

In fact, the price of goods is formed on the basis of an agreement between the parties, depending on various factors, including the customer’s skill to bargain. And there seems to be no end to this, as the government agency responsible for the protection of consumer rights fails to cope with its functions.

The Anti-Monopoly Service has also appealed to consumers. If they discover that they are selling goods at a different price than that stated on them, they can contact the 195-1 call centre, the agency’s official website at https://competition.gov.az/az/ page/muraciet/erize-sikayet-teklif and by e-mail (office@competition.gov.az ).

Source: Turan News Agency