As the Consumer Protection Service awaits the passage of the bill for the creation and operation of the digital platform e-kalathi, preparations are underway to initiate all necessary procedures immediately after the legislation's approval.

The detailed discussion of the bill in the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce is expected to conclude today, Tuesday (5/12). Lawmakers will decide when to bring the bill before the full House for voting, anticipated to occur within January, as current indicators suggest. It is recalled that in the last Committee discussion, it was decided to include only supermarkets with an annual turnover exceeding 5 million euros in the platform. This decision was made despite initial intentions to incorporate other establishments like bakeries and kiosks with turnovers over 2 million euros.

Meanwhile, the issue of product codes to be included on the platform remains unresolved. This complexity arises because supermarkets may sell the same products that have different codes, depending on whether they are manufactured in Cyprus or abroad.

In light of today's parliamentary discussion, Konstantinos Karayiorgis, the Director of the Consumer Protection Service, mentioned to Brief that the Service is currently awaiting the Parliament's final decisions.

"Our goal from the beginning was clear: to provide consumers with the best possible information about market prices, the ability to compare prices on a daily basis, and timely information about both prices and product availability, which are crucial for households," he emphasized.

According to Brief, if the Consumer Protection Service, after the legislation's passage, finds that the original goal is not being met, it might, in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce, propose amendments to the Parliament to ensure the tool's full functionality and effectiveness.

In anticipation of these developments, the Consumer Protection Service is ready to announce the relevant tender. In this context, it has already prepared the technical terms and will announce a competition for the design and implementation of e-kalathi as soon as the legislation is passed and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic.

The bidding process is estimated to take about one and a half months, followed by the procedures for selecting the bidder. The design and implementation of the application are expected to take around four to five months.

Therefore, based on current data and assuming all goes well, the platform should be available from mid-2024, around June or July.

Despite significant delays in the implementation of e-kalathi, the Director of the Consumer Protection Service, in his statements to Brief, stressed the importance of the application's proper functioning. "Whenever it happens, e-kalathi will be a very useful and user-friendly tool in the hands of consumers," Mr. Karayiorgis specifically indicated.