At the press conference "Development of Internet Trade in Belarus. Buyers' Rights and Sellers' Obligations," Inna Gavrilchik, Head of the Department for Consumer Rights Protection and Advertising Control of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, shared statistics in the field of consumer rights protection.
In the first half of 2024, government agencies reviewed 5,040 consumer requests. In the first half of 2023, this figure was 3,968 requests (+22%).
The largest number of appeals were considered by the Minsk City Executive Committee and the administrations of the districts of Minsk – 49% of the total number, the executive committees of the Mogilev region – 11%, the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade – 10%, Brest – 9%, Minsk – 8%.
In absolute terms, 678 requests were reviewed by the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade. In the first half of 2023, 561 requests were reviewed.
Based on the results of reviewing the appeals, consumers were compensated for material damage in the amount of 712,044 rubles. 141 orders were issued to eliminate violations (in the first half of 2023 – 119), 118 protocols were drawn up (in the first half of 2023 – 100), executive committees filed 72 lawsuits in court (in the first half of 2023 – 79).
58% of all requests are in the trade sector, 20% in the housing and communal services sector, and 10% in the paid services sector.
According to MART experts, the main problems in the trade sector are:
- provision by the seller of false (incomplete) information about the goods,
- seller's refusal to accept defective goods,
- failure to meet deadlines (refund of funds, quality control and examination),
- online shopping on social networks.
The online seller is obliged to provide the buyer with the following information about himself:
- full name and location (individual entrepreneur – full name and place of residence),
- information on state registration (date, registration number in the Unified State Register or registration code (number) in the country of registration),
- contact telephone numbers, email address, as well as the person authorized to consider customer appeals regarding violations of their rights provided for by consumer protection legislation, with the exception of sellers who carry out distance selling through an online platform,
- operating mode.
The online seller is obliged to provide the buyer with the following information about the product:
- name of goods,
- information on the main consumer properties of goods (for food products – composition, nutritional value; for products for children, medical and dietary nutrition – caloric content, presence of vitamins),
- indication that a food product is GMO,
- information on special properties (indications and contraindications for use by certain age groups, for certain types of diseases) of food products,
- price, terms of purchase and payment for goods, as well as methods of payment for goods,
- methods and terms of delivery of goods,
- price and terms of payment for delivery of goods,
- warranty period, if any,
- date of manufacture,
- service life and/or shelf life and/or shelf life of goods, storage conditions of goods if they differ from normal storage conditions.
The online seller is obliged to provide the buyer with the following information:
- the full name and location of the person authorized by the seller or by law to deliver the goods,
- the full name and location of the person authorized by the seller or by law to install, connect, adjust and commission technically complex household goods for which, in accordance with the technical and operational documentation, a ban has been established in terms of independent performance of this work by the buyer,
- information on the terms, conditions and procedure for terminating the contract, including in the event of the buyer's refusal to fulfill the contract before the goods are transferred to him, including information on the procedure for returning the goods and (or) the amount of money paid for the goods.
