Main Trade Department: in 2022 the motto of Consumer Day is "Fair digital financial services"

In the Republic of Belarus, as worldwide, March 15 marks Consumer Rights Day. The global scale of the holiday attests to the significance of the consumer protection mechanism within the social and economic policy framework of any modern state.

In the Republic of Belarus, the coordination of activities in the field of consumer protection is carried out by the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade. Other state bodies, within their respective competencies, consider issues related to consumer protection in various spheres of activity.

In the regions, state policy in the field of consumer protection is implemented by regional, city, and district executive committees.

Over the past year, structural divisions of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, city and district executive committees have considered 511 applications from citizens on consumer protection issues, of which 211 (41%) were in the sphere of trade and public catering, 163 (32%) in housing and communal services, and 78 (15%) in consumer services.

Based on the results of the review, 15 orders were issued to eliminate legislative violations, which were executed within the established timeframes, and 10 administrative offense reports were drawn up. Out-of-court compensation for material damage amounted to 7.9 thousand rubles.

In 2022, the motto of Consumer Rights Day is "Fair digital financial services".

Consumers of financial services (banking, insurance, investment, etc.) have the same rights and obligations as in the case of any other services.

Issues of consumer protection arising from the provision of services by banks, leasing, and investment companies are considered by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus; in the case of insurance services, by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus.

The competence of these state bodies includes, first and foremost, monitoring compliance by financial organizations with mandatory contract terms, preventing the imposition of services, concealment of essential information, intentional misleading, and other unfair practices.

The use of digital technologies and the internet has enabled financial institutions to accelerate and simplify access to their services, creating a comfortable user environment.

According to a study conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in 2020, among the residents of the Vitebsk region, the most in-demand digital financial instruments are internet banking (91.9% of respondents reported using it) and mobile banking (51.9%).

The least popular online operations include insurance, opening deposits, current accounts, filing tax returns, obtaining loans, and programmes and applications for tracking income and expenses, and financial planning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the trend related to the development of digital services, but at the same time, the risks for clients of financial companies have increased.

The higher the financial literacy of consumers, the greater their opportunities to use the full spectrum of digital technologies and protect themselves from internet threats, including financial fraud.

A plan of action to improve the financial literacy of the population for 2019–2024 has been approved and is being implemented in the Republic.

In particular, the plan provides for the operation of the Unified Internet Portal for the Financial Literacy of the Population of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus.

With the help of the portal, one can improve their competence in the financial sphere, familiarise themselves with the basic security rules when using digital financial services, etc.

Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by