Radulović: Big consumer complaints about prices and bills

Education on the consumer rights of citizens, the obligations of service providers and traders, as part of the project "Guide for the protection of consumer rights in the municipality of Bijelo Polje", which is implemented by the NGO "Multimedijal Montenegro", was presented today at the Franca Hotel.

The training was attended by Lepomir Popović, president of the association of accountants in Bijelo Polje, accountant Branislav Mrdak, citizens, the media and representatives of the NGO Sector.

The chief market inspector of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs, Marina Radulović, who presented the legislative and institutional frameworks, as well as the practices that this inspection has when it comes to consumer rights.

Market inspectors responsible for the territory of the municipality of Bijelo Polje were among those present.

Radulović expressed her special satisfaction with the presence of the president of the association of accountants, Lepomir Popović.

She reminded that there is a new Law on Consumer Protection which, she says, has transposed consumer directives from the European Union.

"We strive for the consumer in Montenegro to be the same as the one in the EU. What we most often come across in our business are complaints from citizens when it comes to the unreasonableness of the product, i.e. that the product does not meet the quality for which it is intended. We have a lot of consumer complaints about prices and invoices, but there is the Directorate for Inspection Affairs, and our competent inspections that carry out control", said Radulović.

She explained why it is important for consumers to be informed.

"It is important that consumers know who to contact if their consumer rights are threatened, so we talked about all that. I would also like to mention the call center of the Administration for Inspection Affairs 080 555, through which everyone in Montenegro can contact us, and our inspections will carry out controls, and so far we have solved more than 80 percent of cases in favor of the consumer," she pointed out.

The Vice President of Bijelo Polje Municipality, Ernad Suljević, said that few citizens are familiar with their consumer rights.

"Today's education is a good example, and the Law on Consumer Protection is good, comprehensive and provides good protection to the end user. It is not within the jurisdiction of the Municipality to draft the law, nor to monitor its application, but certainly the Local Self-Government can make its contribution so that the customer is satisfied. Personally I will propose the formation of a body at the municipal level that will deal with the protection of consumer rights, and within which a lawyer will be engaged who could provide free legal advice to citizens. , they apply with specific projects, and all with the aim of protecting consumer rights," says Suljević.

He reminded that the Municipal Police Service and the Secretariat for Inspection Affairs are constantly in communication with citizens and businessmen, and respond to every report in accordance with their competences.

Fellow citizen Ena Pušija said in a statement that she believes she is not sufficiently familiar with consumer rights.

"We often come across irregularities, but given that we are not familiar with the rights, the sellers convince us that we are wrong," Ena pointed out.

Ranka Joksimović also agreed that consumers are not sufficiently familiar with their rights, and who they should turn to for help when they encounter irregularities.

The president of the NGO "Multimedijal Montenegro", Željko Đukić, said that in the previous months they worked to raise public awareness about consumer rights.

"We conducted a survey on a sample of 200 respondents, related to the extent to which citizens are aware of their rights, how much they use them and which services and shopping chains they are most dissatisfied with. I think that in the coming days we will have the final results of this survey. Preliminary results show that citizens are not sufficiently informed, over 50 percent, that they are most dissatisfied with the services of telecommunications operators, that they do not use their consumer rights to a sufficient extent. Today, we gathered citizens, the media and representatives of accountants who, we hope, will further educate their clients to respect consumer rights, and it is important that the lecturer shared his experiences on this issue. We have launched a rights website www.pravapotrosaca.me, where citizens can get all relevant information and clearly explained steps on how to exercise their rights." , Đukić stated.

He reminded that the project "Guide for the protection of consumer rights in the municipality of Bijelo Polje" is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development.