Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

Most of the complaints submitted last year, or 2064, were about non-compliance with agreement terms in provision of services. Majority of these complaints were about airline services (1,110 complaints), distance sales contracts (486 complaints), rent and utilities (119 complaints), electronic communication services (84 complaints), tourism services (40 complaints) etc.

A total of 755 complaints were received about non-compliance with agreement terms in supply of goods. Most of those complaints or 196 concerned the quality of footwear, 155 concerned the quality of mobile phones, 118 concerned the quality of electric appliances, 26 concerned the quality of textile goods, 24 concerned the quality of furniture, 15 the quality of cars, etc.

There were also 319 complaints about aggressive commercial practices, advertising and e-commerce, 136 complaints about the failure to observe the principle of legal equality among the contracting parties, six complaints about violations in reviewing of claims, and a number of complaints about other subjects.

In case of 2,003 complaints received by the consumer rights watchdog last year, explanations, consultations or information were provided, a positive solution was found in 825 cases and 261 complaints were forwarded to other authorities. As many as 417 complaints are still being reviewed and 22 complaints were withdrawn by the applicants. The consumer rights watchdog also turned down 87 complaints as improperly presented.

The complaints made in 2017 about non-compliance with agreement terms in supply of goods concerned agreements with total value of EUR 250,517. For the complaints regarding non-compliance with agreement terms in provision of services, the total value of agreements was EUR 417,505.

In 2017, PTAC provided 38,840 consultations on consumer rights.

PTAC deals with consumer claims and applications on violations of consumer rights and offers legal assistance, and can defend consumers in court. PTAC operates under the supervision of the Economics Ministry.