The Georgian Agency of Competition and Consumer Protection, within the food service sector, has set a standard to safeguard consumer interests by mandating the disclosure of total prices.
As per the agency, following a decision, every merchant is required to update their menus in a clear and understandable manner to inform customers about the final price of items, which will include VAT and all other taxes, service charge included.
This standard was established during the agency's investigation into "Lemon 2009" LLC (operating Restaurant - Republic), where the merchant agreed to a conditional commitment with the agency. Specifically, to address a potential violation of the "Consumer Rights Protection" law, the merchant agreed to make policy changes concerning how prices are presented.
For context: in January 2024, the agency received 60 consumer rights protection requests. During this period, the agency confirmed one instance of consumer rights violation. Two merchants faced fines of 1,200 GEL each for failing to comply with the agency's directives. To benefit consumers, 13 conditional commitment agreements were executed in 14 instances, according to the Competition Agency's report.
