The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) has fined 500 stores of the Mega Image supermarket chain 5.65 million lei for violations found during inspections since mid-August.

“In all inspected locations, ANPC commissioners found deviations from compliance with current legal provisions in this field, for which they applied the following sanctions: 793 fines for violations totaling approximately 5.65 million lei; 152 warnings; temporary suspension of sales until defects identified for products with a total value of more than 35,000 lei are eliminated; the final termination of the sale of non-compliant products in the amount of about 1.2 million lei; temporary suspension of services until the deficiencies of 31 stores are eliminated; proposals to end unfair commercial practices for 12 stores,” the ANPC press release quoted by Agerpres said.

Among the deviations that occurred most often were the discrepancy between the price of the product on the shelf and its value at the checkout, misleading consumers, failure to indicate the exact ingredients on the label on the shelf, non-compliance with the promotion regime (selling multi-packaged products without a sale, in order to check the single price, non-display of the start date of the promotion, lack of information regarding the period of the promotion), differences between the net quantity indicated on the package. and the actual quantity of the product, the sale of some products with expired/minimum expiration date or exceeded expiration date/minimum expiration date.

At the same time, other violations were detected, namely, non-compliance with the conditions of storage, preservation and putting into sale, a change in the initial thermal state of the products, the sale of some food products that had organoleptic characteristics. spoilage and sale of some food products with an unpleasant smell and taste or mold stains.

“Control over the activities of large retailers is a priority for our Office. Very large chain stores have a large social impact. Therefore, we are obliged to constantly analyze from the quality of vegetables and fruits to the conditions of sale, including the difference in prices for products on the shelf and at the cash register. In this way, we want to convey a clear message about everything that consumer rights mean. Unfortunately, we can’t seem to understand each other and constantly invoke the abuse of our power when in fact they want to mask the reality. They can be respected at home, it seems not here,” said Horia Constantinescu, president of the ANPC.