Consumer Protection Service inspected 118 school-supplies stores in Cyprus

The Consumer Protection Service of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry inspected 118 retail outlets in Cyprus ahead of the start of the school year. A total of 117 stores, or 99%, fully complied with the rules on displaying prices and discounts; violations were found in just one.

Inspections took place in bookshops, supermarkets, department stores and outlets selling school uniforms, stationery and schoolbags. Inspectors checked whether prices were displayed clearly and prominently, whether information about discounts and promotions was accurate, and whether information about the store’s returns policy was clearly visible.

The store where violations were found was issued with written recommendations. During a follow-up inspection, it fully complied with the requirements, the service said.

Separately, checkout price checks were carried out in 103 stores: the shelf price was compared with the receipt price for 3,025 products. Discrepancies unfavourable to consumers were found in three cases — 0.10% of the items checked — while discrepancies in favour of consumers were found in seven cases, or 0.23%.

On 27 August, the service collected data on retail prices for school supplies at 16 sales outlets across all districts of Cyprus.