The number of complaints about the quality of goods and services in the last year increased by more than half compared to the previous year, which is a sign of the growing awareness of consumers, said the head of the Department for Consumer Protection at the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade Vesna Novaković.
“We are encouraged by the growing number of complaints or requests from citizens, which has increased from 8,800 in 2012 to 13,700 in 2013, as it suggests that consumers are now aware of who to turn to for protection of their rights”, Novaković told Tanjug.
On the occasion of the International Consumers Rights Day which is marked on March 15, Novaković said that the competent institutions are receiving an increasing number of calls from citizens who want to get some information and advice before they decide to purchase something. This means that they are getting informed of their rights prior to buying something, in case they are not satisfied with it.
“It is important to understand that an informed consumer is a protected consumer. Therefore, it is advised that the consumer inquire about the properties of the goods and the method of payment before he decides to buy something”, said Novaković.
She added that the Ministry has funded the work of four counseling centers which are led by the associations for consumer protection in Belgrade, Vojvodina, Šumadija-Western Serbia, and Southern-Eastern Serbia, in order to assist consumers in exercising their rights.
The World Consumer Rights Day was established in 1983 in order to improve the rights of consumers all over the world, and this year it is devoted to consumers of mobile services.
The Ministry, in collaboration with the EU project “Strengthening Consumer Protection in Serbia” which is being carried out for two and a half years now, has supported the agenda of the International Organization of Consumers for fair mobile phone services, said Novaković.
She also pointed out that the program has sent a clear message to mobile operators to provide services with affordable prices and the appropriate quality to consumers, and that they should conclude fair, understandable and clear contract with the consumers. In addition, that the personal data of consumers should be protected and that operators should keep good business practices.
Novaković recalled that the Ministry, in collaboration with the EU project, consumer protection associations and industry representatives drafted the Law on Consumer Protection, which passed the public debate and largely included all submitted proposals and remarks.
It is important that the draft was prepared in order to improve the existing law in terms of implementation. This means that we detected certain problems and ambiguities, consequently the standards were more elaborately explained in order to enable consumers easier access to protect their rights and interests.
The draft law should be discussed by MPs in the new Parliament.
In July last year, the government adopted a Consumer Protection Strategy for the period 2013-2018, in which exact tasks that need to be implemented are defined, and the Ministry is now working on the implementation of the Action Plan for the implementation of this strategy.
She added that last year four sessions of the government’s National Council for Consumer Protection were held, and were devoted to current issues in the field of consumer protection, such as food security, the occurrence of Aflatoxin and the draft law.
This body is operative since 2012, and its main purpose is to improve the system of consumer protection and better coordination between all relevant institutions.
