BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15. The issue of consumer protection is under strict control in Azerbaijan, Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Sahib Mammadov said at the conference themed "The role of state bodies in protecting consumer rights," Trend reports.
According to him, economic development and institutional reforms are among the factors contributing to the strengthening of consumer protection.
"The quality of services provided by state bodies has also improved significantly. A very wide range of measures is being implemented as part of the consumer protection," Mammadov said.
He noted that the VAT refund mechanism is also one of the main tools for protecting consumer rights.
"The return of part of the VAT since 2020 has had a significant impact on this area. Previously, when returning or exchanging goods, consumers could face problems with lost checks, but now uploading checks to banking applications makes it easier to prove the purchase," Mammadov added.
At the end of last year, Azerbaijan increased the VAT refund for cashless payments. This issue was discussed at the Azerbaijani Parliament's meeting on December 9.
The relevant draft proposes to reduce VAT refund during cash transactions from 10 to 5 percent and increase it from 15 to 17.5 percent for cashless payments in order to promote non-cash transactions. The bill was put to the vote and adopted in the third reading.