For Consumer Counseling 1.3 Million Kuna from MINGO

The Ministry of Economy has announced on its website a competition for the allocation of financial support for the implementation of the consumer counseling project in 2013, for which 1.3 million kuna has been secured.

Consumer counseling, the Ministry notes, has been continuously conducted in Croatia since 2005, and counseling centers are recognized as places where consumers turn to resolve their issues related to the violation of consumer rights.

For the implementation of the project in 2013, funds in the amount of 1,300,000 kuna have been secured. The deadline for associations to submit applications for the competition is 30 days from the date of its publication on the Ministry’s website (www.mingo.hr).

Based on the assessment of the submitted applications from associations operating in the field of consumer protection, the committee will propose a list of potential candidates for receiving financial support.

The subject of the competition is the allocation of financial support to associations operating in the field of consumer protection in Croatia for co-financing the implementation of the consumer counseling project.

Through the implementation of project activities, free consumer counseling related to the protection of their rights and economic interests in dealings with traders is enabled at the level of four Croatian regions – Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, and Dalmatia.

The Consumer Protection Act stipulates that the minister responsible for consumer protection issues allocates financial support to consumer protection associations based on a conducted public competition for projects aimed at promoting consumer protection (counseling, information, education).

With this competition proposal, compared to the previous one, the criteria regarding the expertise of individuals advising consumers are more demanding, in terms of mandatory employment of lawyers as well as the obligation to conduct counseling in areas – general consumer rights in accordance with regulations governing mandatory relations and consumer rights protection, consumer rights in the area of public services, consumer rights in the field of electronic communications, and consumer rights related to the use of financial and insurance services.