Economy Minister highlights progress in ensuring “healthy competition”, protection of consumer rights at int’l conference
Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Thursday highlighted the progress made over the recent years in developing “healthy competition” for the country’s business sector. Photo: Ministry of Economy
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Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Thursday highlighted the progress made over the recent years in developing “healthy competition” for the country’s business sector and ensuring consumer rights at the international conference Competition and Consumer Protection, hosted in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Davitashvili told the event the progress had been due to a “correct” and ”consistent” policy of the Government in implementing related reforms and added fulfilment of obligations taken under the Association Agreement signed with the European Union in 2014 had helped to make “significant progress” in competition policy and protection of consumer rights.
With the additional amendments made to the competition legislation in 2020, Georgia has fulfilled its obligation under the Association Agreement to have a comprehensive legislation focused on creating healthy competition for the business sector and preventing abuse of dominant positions by economic agents”, he said.
The Minister added the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights had been enacted in the country in 2022 “corresponding to the best international practices”.
Organised by the National Competition Agency, the National Bank, the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission, the Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia and the Communications Commission, the conference gathered about 20 delegations from 10 countries in Tbilisi.
The Competition Agency of Georgia on Monday said it had solved 109 issues related to protection of consumer rights out of 194 complaints it received between November and March.
The results and challenges in consumer rights protection after the adoption of the Consumer Protection Law were presented by Irakli Lekvinadze, the Chairman of the Georgian National Competition Agency, in his report to lawmakers on Thursday.
Ekaterine Imedadze, a member of the Communications Commission of Georgia, addressed the World Summit on the Information Society with comments about the development of the information technologies and the role of the regulatory body in the process, the Commission said on Monday.
The Georgian Parliament approved a bill on Consumer Protection in a third reading with a total of 79 votes on March 29.
The newly-adopted bill establishes rules for consumer protection and prohibits “unfair commercial practices,” that violate the values of “trust and good faith.”
Projects implemented by the Communications Commission of Georgia for protecting rights of consumers and developing media literacy were introduced by the body’s member Vakhtang Abashidze to the audience of the international conference on Competition and Consumer Protection in Tbilisi on Thursday, the state body said.
The National Competition Agency of Georgia has signed memorandums for strengthening cooperation with Austrian and Serbian counterpart institutions at an international conference on competition and consumer rights running in Tbilisi, the body said on Wednesday.
Georgia’s National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission on Wednesday said seven companies had been fined ₾65,000 ($24,031) for failing to submit or incorrectly submitting monthly reports to the regulatory body.
The Georgian National Competition Agency on Monday said it had launched investigations on 285 issues related to protection of consumer rights out of 509 complaints it had received between November 2022 and March 2023.
Irakli Lekvinadze, the Chairman of the National Competition Agency of Georgia, on Tuesday said enforcement of competition and consumer rights protection policies in the country was “becoming stronger”.