Ombudsman for consumer protection to be introduced in Kazakhstan

At the government session chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin, issues of consumer protection were considered.

Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov, First Deputy Chair of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market Oleg Smolyakov, Chair of the Board of Atameken NCE Ablay Myrzakhmetov reported on the work carried out in this direction.

In order to ensure the protection of consumer rights, in 2020, amendments were made to the legislation, an Interdepartmental Council under the Government was created and administrative responsibility for violations of consumer rights was introduced.

From Jan. 1, 2021, a Unified Information System for Receiving Consumer Applications on the principle of one window — e-tutynushy, was put into effect. The number of citizens' appeals on consumer protection issues is growing every year. So, the Ministry of Trade and Integration in 2019 considered about 6 thousand, in 2020 — over 20 thousand, for 10 months of this year — more than 21 thousand calls. Consumers are concerned about the issues of housing and communal services, retail trade, medical, tourist services, communications and transport.

The draft law "On Protection of Consumer Rights" in the new edition provides for the introduction of an ombudsman institution for the protection of consumer rights in Kazakhstan.

“Improving the quality of life of Kazakhstanis is inextricably linked with an increase in the level of consumer protection, which is an indicator of the development of conscientious and competitive entrepreneurship. Confident in their rights, consumers provide an active demand for quality goods, works and services. This contributes to the development of the economy,” Mamin said.

In order to prevent violations of consumer rights in the field of Internet commerce, the Head of Government instructed the Ministry of Trade and Integration, together with interested government agencies and organizations, until the end of this year to make proposals for improving legal regulation in the e-commerce segment.

To systematize citizens' appeals and prompt response from government agencies, the Prime Minister instructed in the first half of 2022 to integrate the e-tutynushy system with the information systems of a number of government agencies.

The Ministry of Information and Social Development, together with the Ministry of Trade, the Agency for the Regulation and Development of the Financial Market and the akimats, were instructed to increase awareness of the population on the issues of protecting the rights of consumers of financial services and increasing the financial literacy of citizens.

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