site.btaOmbudsman Submits Report on 2022 Activities

The inflation clauses, on the basis of which mobile operators increase the prices of mobile services, are unfair, commented Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva. The comment was made during the presentation of a report on the activities of the Ombudsman in 2022 in the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy and Innovation, which the Committee adopted.

Kovacheva noted that, in this regard she referred the Ministry of Economy and the Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP). Last year, the Ombudsman referred the same matter several times to the two institutions, as well as to the Commission for the Protection of Competition, but the latter  replied that they are not competent, Kovacheva recalled.

Inflation clauses are illegal because they cannot be individually negotiated into people's contracts. When a person concludes a contract with a mobile operator, they cannot predict in the years how the price of the services they pay will change, simply because of these inflationary clauses, Kovacheva pointed out.

In the years when the price of electricity was extremely high, the mobile operators were compensated. The Ombusdman argued that whatever losses they have accumilated, they cannot be compensated by the people whose prices are increased in this way. According to her, a legislative decision "to limit this arbitrariness" is also necessary. 

Diana Kovacheva reported that in 2022, more than 74,000 citizens turned to the Ombudsman's institution. There have been over 15,000 written complaints and reports submitted to the institution. Most complaints (30%) were related to consumer problems - complaints about the quality of the electricity supply, water supply operators and their activities, heating systems, etc.

The Ombudsman said that in 2022 and in 2023 the main emphasis in the institution's activity was placed on the rights and measures to protect the rights of people with disabilities, on the topic of domestic violence, and also on the topic of monopolies and how which they violate fundamental rights of citizens.

Kovacheva highlighted issues that remain on Parliament's agenda, such as the issue of the Natural Persons Bankruptcy Bill.

In 2022, the Ombudsman  appealed to the Constitutional Court four times, and five of her legislative proposals were adopted by the National Assembly.
Diana Kovacheva said by March 31 she will submit a Report on the activities of the Ombudsman for 2023 to Parliament.