"The Czech Trade Inspection Authority will continue to carry out inspections, as the results confirmed shortcomings in half of the premises. The long-term positive trend can be considered that even in this quarter, the CTI did not find any violation of Act No. 247/2006 Coll., On limiting the operation of bazaars and pawnshops at night, ie from 22.00 to 06.00 hrs, sale of all used products and products without purchasing documents, prohibited, " says Central Director of the Czech Trade Inspection Mojmír Bezecný.
The Czech Trade Inspection carried out a control action during the period from April 1 to June 30, 2017 aimed at fulfilling the obligations of bazaars and pawn shops operators. Specifically, it was the observance of the Consumer Protection Act , the Act on Certain Measures Against the Legalization of Proceeds from Crime and the Financing of Terrorism and the Act restricting the operation of pawnshops and some other establishments at night (ie from 22.00 to 06.00). Inspectors carried out 119 inspections and found violations in 59 of them (50.0%).
The Czech Trade Inspection Authority also cooperated with other control bodies, where 5 inspections were carried out with Trade Licensing Offices and 4 inspections with the Czech Police.
Deficiencies identified
Most traders violated Act No. 634/1992 Coll. On Consumer Protection:
in 35 cases, the seller did not comply with the obligation to properly inform consumers about the extent, conditions of the claim, together with information on where the claim can be claimed (§ 13),
in 28 cases, the seller has breached the obligation to indicate in the purchase receipt of the product the fact that it is a used or defective product (Section 16 (3)),
in 14 cases traders did not issue a proof of purchase of goods or services even though the consumer requested or did not issue a document without the requisite legal provisions (Section 16, paragraph 1)
in 13 cases, the seller did not properly inform consumers about the price of products and services offered (§ 12).
The violation of other provisions of the Consumer Protection Act has been detected to a lesser extent.
In addition, CTI inspectors found in 5 cases a violation of the provisions of Section 7 of Act No. 253/2008 Coll., On Certain Measures Against the Legalization of Proceeds from Crime and Financing of Terrorism where the Seller breached the obligation to identify and control the client. Infringements of other legislation were found in 5 cases, such as violation of the European Union Regulation on Textile Labeling or Incidence of Unverified or Non-Appropriate Measuring Instruments.
Saved penalties
In the 2nd quarter of 2017, the Czech Trade Inspection imposed 67 fines totaling CZK 163,000 to the operators of bazaars and pawn shops. It also issued a ban on the sale of 43 pieces of non-compliant products. These included, for example, earrings and necklaces. The value of prohibited goods amounted to CZK 4,668. Another measure banned the use of 2 pieces of gauges which did not comply with generally binding legal regulations, technical standards or other technical regulations, or with an approved type.
Source: tz CTI, edited editorially