GCCA has published its January statistics for the current year in the field of consumer rights protection.
In January of this year, the Agency received 190 consumer applications and handled 524 hotline calls, marking a 65% increase in applications compared to the previous year. The number of applications increased by 75% compared to January 2025 and by 217% compared to January 2024.
During the reporting period, the Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency (GCCA) identified 13 violations of consumer group rights in 20 cases. Due to non-compliance with obligations imposed by the GCCA, 6 traders were fined in 13 cases, with total penalties amounting to 34 185 GEL. For consumer protection, 9 commitment agreements were signed in 10 cases, where traders committed to modifying their internal business policies and restoring the rights of affected consumers who suffered due to unfair business practices.
According to the reporting period, 68% of submitted applications concerned online transactions, while 32% related to in-person purchases. From a regional perspective, Tbilisi accounted for the largest share of applications 77%, followed by Adjara 4%, Kvemo Kartli 4% , Imereti 3%, Kakheti 3%, Samtskhe-Javakheti 3%, etc.
Based on current year data, the demand for a refund is 70, the repair or replacement of defective items is 49, 41 for restoring the right to a defective service, 9 related to the prohibition of misleading practices, and the rest is 21. According to the statistics, 65% of the applications related to the wholesale and retail sector, followed by transport and warehousing with 13%, the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector accounted for 3%, while the remaining 19% concerned other types of economic activities.
