Consumer rights and review of Chapter III

Consumer rights in Uzbekistan are protected by the law “On protection of consumers' rights”. The main rights: to receive reliable and complete information about a product and its producer (price, date, shelf life, rules of use); to receive a safe product that does not harm health or the environment; to demand that a defective product be replaced, repaired free of charge, reduced in price or returned for a refund; and, when rights are violated, to apply to a court or the competent authorities. To consider a claim a document proving the purchase – the receipt – is usually needed, so keep it. Consumers also have duties: paying for the product on time, accepting a product made to special order, and returning a good-quality product being exchanged undamaged and with its label. Advertising is an activity that informs about a product and raises demand for it: it makes people aware of prices and novelties and encourages competition, but sometimes gives wrong information and prompts unneeded spending. The barcode on a product label has 13 digits: the first digits show the country code (478 for Uzbekistan), the next ones the firm and product, and the last digit is the check digit. A QR code is a two-dimensional code, read with a phone camera, that stores more information; be careful before scanning an unknown QR code and opening the link.