On March 15, a meeting was held in Batumi on International Consumer Protection Day. The event was organized by six regulatory bodies, namely the Competition and Consumer Agency, the National Bank of Georgia, the National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission of Georgia, the Communications Commission, the State Insurance Supervision Service of Georgia, and the National Food Agency. The meeting was attended by high-ranking officials of regulatory bodies, government officials from the Autonomous Republic of Ajara and Batumi City Hall, as well as academic and non-governmental sector representatives, students, and professors of Shota Rustaveli State University.
Irakli Lekvinadze, chairman of the Georgian Competition and Consumer Protection Agency, summarized the results of the consumer protection measures implemented during the March 11-15 week, emphasizing the importance of informing citizens about their rights. “Georgia's association agreement with the European Union requires the country to strengthen consumer rights protection. Raising public awareness is crucial for achieving this goal. As part of the meeting with consumers in Batumi, six regulatory authorities organized meetings with the target audience to increase public awareness about the effective protection of consumer rights and informed choice” - said Irakli Lekvinadze, Chairman of the Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency at the meeting.
According to Davit Narmania, Chairman of GNERC, every citizen has to be informed about his rights in the energy and water supply sectors, as well as in other sectors: "The international week organized by six regulatory authorities serves to raise citizens' awareness on consumer rights. By the European Union's directives are guiding the process of reforming the energy market, which takes into consideration active and informed consumers. When market liberalization is complete, consumers will be able to choose between electricity and natural gas service providers. As a result, consumers must understand the quality and service standards that they can expect from the utility company. In this direction, GNERC, along with its counterpart authorities permanently cooperates with various interested parties. Today, on the International Day of Consumer Rights Protection in Batumi, we introduced to the professors and students at the university the instruments available in terms of consumer rights protection by 6 regulatory bodies. We will actively continue to provide citizens with information about their rights in various formats", said Davit Narmania.
According to Davit Onoprishvili, the head of the State Insurance Supervision Service of Georgia, it is important that this year's week was held in a larger format and, besides Tbilisi, covered three major cities in the region - Gurjaani, Kutaisi, and Batumi: "For the effective protection of consumer rights, it is necessary to have both a modern legal basis and inform the consumers about their rights” - stated Davit Onoprishvili. Within the framework of the week, consumers were provided with information regarding their rights in the field of insurance and the jurisdiction of the State Insurance Supervision Service of Georgia.
An opening event took place on March 11th at Pullman Hotel in Tbilisi. During the event, the six regulatory bodies responsible for consumer rights protection reviewed the results, challenges, and enforcement mechanisms related to consumer rights protection.
As part of the week, meetings were held with consumers on March 12 in Gurjaani, March 14 in Kutaisi, and on March 15 – on International Consumer Protection Day - in Batumi.
Throughout the week, the first people of regulatory bodies, members of parliament, central and regional government officials, business leaders, academic professionals, and non-governmental sector representatives attended the events. To share international practices, the event was also attended by representatives from the European Union, UNCTAD, the diplomatic corps, and the Lithuanian Consumer Rights Protection Agency
