Georgia: The Georgian Competition and Consumer Protection Agency (GCCA) has established that LLC “Walt Georgia” breached the Law of Georgia on the Protection of Consumer Rights by practicing unfair competition in the courier services market.
Following a thorough review of the case, GCCA examined the arguments, evidence, and the official mobile application of the trader as well as the information posted on the webpage in detail. According to GCCA, the trader failed to provide its customers with sufficient, unambiguous, and precise information regarding the nature of the service and the delivery parameters when marketing their “Premium Package.”
It is also worth mentioning that the company did not sufficiently clarify that bringing the delivery charges to 0GEL would not relieve Walt + (Premium Package) users of other additional costs. Furthermore, the Walt + “premium package” customers will no longer have to pay the delivery fees but will not be exempt from any other additional charges.
In addition, the GCCA has established that the trader’s method of presenting information is misleading or has the possibility of being wrong. The Agency points out that in order to be transparent and allow consumers to make informed choices, the communication on the Service Fee needs to be disclosed clearly, and unambiguously prior to the consumer subscribing to the Premium Package.
Moreover, the trader’s Terms and Conditions must state the scope of the Service Fee and the basis upon which its amount is determined. Under the GCCA decision, Walt Georgia is required to reinstate the affected consumers’ rights within a month and pay them damages, if any, caused by the company’s activities.
About GCCA
GCCA is an independent regulatory body, introduced to ensure healthy competition within the Georgian market. The Agency, since its establishment has helped foster a boundary and competitive business environment, and safeguard pro-consumer and domestic industrial policies.
