CONSUMER PROTECTION TO BE EXPANDED IN KAZAKHSTAN

The inclusion of the Ombudsman institution 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, as evidenced by the experience of foreign countries, where the protection of citizens' rights is in the first place.

If we talk about the sphere of consumer protection, the trend of introducing the institution of the Ombudsman in it is promoted by an active policy of business liberalization in the country, at the same time increasing the legal literacy of consumers and their exactingness.

For example, in Kazakhstan, the Business Ombudsman is actively involved in the rights of the business community at the upper echelons of government, 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.

As for the consumer rights of more than 19 million people, the person authorized to represent the consumer interests of the whole of Kazakhstan, able to implement the tasks of ensuring socio-economic stability, due to his personal qualities, professional experience, competent in legal matters in all sectors of the consumer market of the country, has not been determined.

This is what will distinguish the institution of the Ombudsman for Consumer Protection, whose tasks 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 their activities, as well as serve as the voice of consumers, periodically report directly on this to the highest echelons of government, with proposals for solutions these problems.

Also, the tasks of the Ombudsman 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 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 of citizens on consumer rights issues.

According to the results of a sociological survey of 20 thousand respondents from all over Kazakhstan conducted in 2021, 55% of them expressed positive responses to the creation of the institution of the Ombudsman for Consumer Protection, the agency reports.

For consideration of consumer appeals by public institutions, they can use the Unified Information System for Consumer Protection e-tutynushy.kz (unified electronic book of consumer complaints). To do this, the consumer and the public institute of the RFP only need to register in it.

It is important to note its feature, which allows the consumer, on the principle of a "single window", to send his claim to the entrepreneur free of charge and instantly in order to receive a motivated response on this matter.

Analogues e-tutynushy.kz – there is no bridge between the consumer and the entrepreneur, - the press center of the department reports.