Consumer's rights are frequently violated in Moldova, laments Piotr Gutul, the head of the “Consumer Protection” NGO. The organization has filed numerous complaints with state institutions, including the President's Office, but with little success.
In a press conference today, Piotr Gutul stated that the organization receives a large number of complaints and many result in lawsuits, but justice is seldom served, because judges often ignore the Consumer's Protection Law. The activist thinks this is because the failure to apply the Law has been decriminalized.
Gutul in particular condemned the general practice of heat and hot water utilities not having individual contracts with the final consumers, despite being required by the law. The contracts are instead with municipal companies or flat owners' associations. According to Gutul, the existence of these intermediaries is detrimental to consumers' interests, and only benefits utilities and intermediaries themselves. Another related violation is the practice of making flat owners with private heating systems chip in for the heat supplied to the block.
Ernest Frumusachi, a member of the NGO, told the same press conference that consumer's rights are violated when consumers are deliberately pushed deeper and deeper into debt. In the absence of an individual contract, a consumer cannot opt out of the heat and hot water services, which can lead to huge debts. In his particular case, the utility failed to inform him of a 2001 debt, which came over the years to amount to nearly 30,000 lei. The court eventually ordered him to pay the amount, despite the expired limitation period and the absence of an individual contract.
More generally, the “Consumer Protection” representatives urged the public to always keep the receipt when buying something in order to be able to protect their consumer's rights if anything happens.
Consumers are encouraged to call 022 637436 or 022556984 whenever they think their rights have been violated.
