"Consumers need increased protection"

"Consumers need increased protection"

Almost every day we purchase various goods (works, services), but they are not always of proper quality. Sometimes it happens that the buyer's rights are violated even before the purchase, when sellers provide false information about the technical characteristics of the goods.
At the same time, it should be noted that cases of violations of consumer rights in various fields have become more frequent recently, in this regard, the number of appeals to the authorized body is growing every year.
In this regard, in order to maximize consumer protection in market relations, amendments and additions are regularly made to the legislation on consumer protection. In this connection, on behalf of the Head of State, the authorized body has developed a draft law, which is actively discussed in the information field of the country and is being worked out jointly with government agencies. Returning to the draft law on consumer protection, it is necessary to emphasize its main aspects.
Institutional strengthening of the consumer protection system through the introduction and legislative consolidation of the institution of the Ombudsman for Consumer Protection. The inclusion of the institution of the Ombudsman in the socio-political system of a number of countries is primarily due to the activation of public institutions in the sphere of state and society. For example, in Kazakhstan, the Business Ombudsman deals with the rights of the business community, the rights of the banking conglomerate and insurance organizations are dealt with by the ombudsmen corresponding to these activities. It should be noted that these institutions are enshrined in legislative acts. If we talk about the sphere of consumer protection, the active policy of liberalizing business in the country and improving the legal culture of consumers contributes to the trend of introducing the institution of an ombudsman in it.
The task of the Consumer Protection Ombudsman Institute will be to hear each of the 19 million consumers, study and identify systemic problems in the field of consumer protection in the course of its activities, as well as serve as the voice of consumers, periodically report directly on this to the highest echelons of government, with proposals to solve these problems.
The functions of the Ombudsman institution will be pre-trial settlement of consumer rights issues with the entrepreneur, otherwise - filing a lawsuit with the judicial authorities in the interests and protection of consumer rights, active participation in the development of sectoral draft regulatory legal acts of state bodies-developers, if they affect the interests or may infringe on the rights of consumers, education and improvement of legal literacy citizens on consumer rights issues.
In 2020, amendments to the Law "On Consumer Rights Protection" were adopted, which contributed to the construction of an integral system of consumer rights protection with the involvement of non–governmental organizations and businesses, including a three–stage algorithm for handling consumer complaints (stage 1 — the seller and the subjects of pre-trial dispute settlement, stage 2 - government agencies, 3 - the court).The implemented three-stage algorithm for consideration and resolution of consumer complaints provides for consumer appeals to state bodies, then to judicial authorities. In this regard, and also taking into account the constitutional right of a citizen to unhindered judicial protection, it is proposed to improve the current three-stage algorithm for considering consumer complaints into a two-stage one, preserving the possibility of pre-trial settlement of disputes exclusively between the parties to a consumer dispute, without obliging the consumer whose rights have been violated to apply to a state body before filing a lawsuit in court.
In addition, it should be noted that the lack of financial resources and low material and technical equipment of the base of public associations of consumers hinders their work to protect consumer rights. At the same time, there is no financial support for public associations, such as an institution for charging public associations of consumers with remuneration from the amount reimbursed to the consumer. Today, there is no norm on transferring the amount of a legal penalty (fine) from the defendant to a public association of consumers, but it was previously present in the Law of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic of June 5, 1991 "On Consumer Rights Protection".The proposed will be an additional source of its financing and will help the financial independence of the existing public associations for the protection of consumer rights.
In general, the proposed amendments to the law on consumer protection will have a positive effect on ensuring consumer satisfaction and creating a social balance. Legislative consolidation of the developed innovations will bring the system of consumer protection to a higher quality level and will entail favorable changes in the lives of Kazakhstanis.