When buying goods and services, we want to be sure that companies operate in compliance with the law, and that they will treat us as consumers in good faith. Therefore, there are e-services that you can obtain information about the vendor's business to make it safer to purchase its offers. In the search of the Enterprise Register website You can verify the existence of the company and see if the company has undergone insolvency or liquidation proceedings and there are no operational restrictions and commercial pledges.

If you want, you can check your company in the SRS Tax debtor list. The State Revenue Service publishes a list in Excel format on its home page.

Similarly, databases are available in which it can be verified whether an undertaking is entitled to market a particular type of production. Registers of PVD you can check whether the company has obtained Food and Veterinary Service (PVD) permissions for its activities, such as providing catering services.

If you have doubts about the functioning of a medical treatment institution, check that they have been registered in the Register of the Emergency Authorities. It is also possible to obtain other useful information in the databases of the Health Inspectorate, such as registered medical practitioners/medical practitioners, beauty and tattoo providers, the list of dangerous products, etc. In section Stop Object Action/Service Delivery it is possible to obtain information on institutions under the supervision of the Health Inspectorate, such as medical establishments, as well as more information on the requirements to be met by educational establishments, including pre-school institutions, beauty salons, hairdressing salons, solaries, public swimming pools and baths.

In accordance with the Consumer Rights Protection Law the consumer's rights are infringed if:

• the ability to obtain the necessary information about the product or service and its price has not been provided;
• the sale of unsafe and poor quality goods or the provision of unsafe or poor quality services;
• The purchase fee and unit of measure have not been correctly determined and you have not been given the opportunity to make sure that it is correct;
• You have not been issued a purchase cheque, a business identification document;
• the freedom of choice and the expressed will have not been respected;
• the principle of equality between the parties has not been respected and the rules of the Treaty are unfair;
• the contractual obligations have not been properly fulfilled;
• the exercise of the right of withdrawal, the annulment of the contract concluded or other legal or contractual rights has not been granted.

Any purchase shall mean entering into a contract with the seller or service provider. A purchase cheque or other business identification document shall be considered as a business identification document. The main condition of quality purchase is that the goods and services must not have a defect which prevents them from being used for their intended purpose. Consequently, goods and services must:

• qualitative;
• safe;
• corresponding to the description given on the label or in the advertisement.

The goods or service shall not be regarded as ineligible if:

• at the time of the purchase, you knew or could not be aware of the non-conformity of the product, for example, the point of sale shows clear information about the product in question that it has a certain defect;
• the non-compliance occurred due to materials supplied by you, such as a defect caused by a product made from your materials due to its deficiencies;
• normal wear or wear of the goods shall not be regarded as a defect;
• the item has been used without following the instructions for use, warnings.

The quality of the goods or conformity with the provisions of the contract shall be determined by the Consumer Rights Protection Law.

Remember! The defect must not be minor in order to claim cancellation and reimbursement of the contract, the defect must have a significant impact on your ability to use the product.

If you discover a lack of conformity of the product or service, you have the right to refer to the seller or service provider of the product within two years from the date of purchase or receipt of the service. The claim must be lodged with the seller or service provider of the goods within two months of the date on which you discover the non-conformity of the goods or service.

Important! Make sure you have a purchase check.

If, at the time of sale of the goods, you are granted a seller's or manufacturer's guarantee, in which the seller or manufacturer has undertaken to provide aid in the event of a product defect after the statutory period of two years of application for the claim or during these two years, providing more favourable conditions, you must refer to the seller or the manufacturer in the event of a product defect, in compliance with the terms of the guarantee issued. the rules. The guarantee may not shorten the legal period for the application of the claim, which shall be 2 years from the date of purchase of the goods.

If the purchased product appears to be inappropriate, you have the right to request from the seller:

• first, in order to eliminate, free of charge and within a reasonable time, the non-conformity of the goods OR to exchange the goods in conformity with the terms of the contract (the parties may agree);
• if the seller does not have the option of correcting the non-compliance (providing missing parts, repairs or the like) or switching the product, then you have the right to request a price reduction or refund from the seller *.

* by reducing the price or cancelling the contract and repaying the amount of money paid for the goods to the consumer may take into account the depreciation of the goods or the benefits obtained by the consumer in the use of the goods and agreed between the Contracting Parties.

If you receive an inappropriate service:

• also in this case, you have the right first to require the provider to correct the non-compliance free of charge. If this is not possible, you are entitled to a price cut or a refund.

If you have an argument with the seller or service provider, you should first negotiate it by trying to reach an agreement, orally or in writing.

• the seller or service provider must, within 15 working days, give his or her consent to comply with the requirement or make a reasoned refusal to comply in writing;
• if the seller or service provider does not respond to the application, it shall be deemed to refuse to comply with the consumer's claim.

If the seller or service provider refuses to comply with your claim or if you are not satisfied with the solution proposed by the seller or service provider, you shall have the right to apply:

• Consumer Protection Centre (PTAC) for assistance in the settlement of the dispute (with the exception of medicinal products, medical services, cosmetics and food);
• in the case of an out-of-court dispute, for example,
  • Public Utilities Commission
  • In the Ombudsman of the Association of Commercial Banks of Latvia
  • In the Ombudsman of the Association of Latvian Insurers
• consumer Dispute Commission if the assistance provided by the Consumer Rights Protection Centre has not resulted in the dispute;
• in court, including under the simplified procedure or without dispute.

The seller will consider your claims and take into account:

• by reducing the price or cancelling the purchase, depreciation or benefit of the item that you have benefited from using the item;
• the significance of the product defect.

On the other hand, when assessing the consumer's claims as a whole, many and different factors are taken into account, depending on the nature of the claim (for example, when the consumer has referred to the seller, whether there is a copy of the check, or what information has been provided, whether the instruction has been issued and whether it has been appropriate, etc.

In order to submit a claim for an inappropriate item or service, it is necessary to write an application to the company in which you purchased the product or service. The application must describe the problem identified and attach a copy of the check or contract attesting to the purchase of the goods or service.

The seller or service provider has an obligation to reply within 15 working days. The refusal must be justified.

! Always save the business identification document – purchase check when purchasing an item or service!

Application Form to be submitted to the seller in the website of the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC).

How do I apply for PTAC?

If a solution to resolve a product or service mismatch fails to reach an agreement with the vendor or service provider:

• fill in application form to be submitted to PTAC;
• sign it with secure electronic signature;
• add scanned documents and other evidence supporting the existence of the dispute (check or contract, submission with the expressed counterclaim to the seller, vendor's response, photographs, etc.).
• send to PTAC via e-address or when sending documents by mail, or to an e-mail address: pasts@ptac.gov.lv.

The dispute settlement process is described more broadly on PTAC website.

If you do not have an electronic signature or for any other reason you cannot apply electronically, you may do it personally in PTAC.

When to wait for a response from PTAC?

After receiving an electronically submitted document, PTAC within one working day will send a message to your e-address or your e-mail address about receiving an electronic document to the email address you specified.

The PTAC response to the application for the specific question will be provided within four months, but not later than within one month from the date of receipt of the application, the PTAC will inform the consumer of the examination of the application and the activities performed.

In this case, you can use the e-service Application Health Inspectorate.

• Compliance with hygiene requirements - if hygiene (for example, cleanliness, disinfection) is not satisfied in medical, social care, education and childcare institutions, service hotels, as well as services providing businesses - in hairdressing shops, public baths, swimming pools, cosmetics cabs, solaries, tatters and pinking services;

Before receiving a beauty, solarium, tattoo or pike singing service, or a visit to a public bathhouse or swimming pool, make sure that the service provider has announced its activities to Health Inspectorate.

• The quality of drinking and bathing water - if the quality of drinking water supplied from the public drinking water supply system is not satisfied, the quality of bathing water;

The Health Inspectorate shall carry out official monitoring of bathing sites every year during the bathing season from 15 May to 15 September and shall publish results.

• For chemical substances/mixtures, cosmetic products - if there are issues such as compliance of the composition of the product, packaging, labelling with the requirements of regulatory enactments, whether the cosmetic product or the chemical mixture has had an adverse effect on health;
• Supervision of medicinal products - for example, if there are issues regarding the procedures for the issuance of medicinal products in pharmacies, advertising of medicinal products or the price
• Healthcare – if, for example, doubts have been raised regarding incorrect or poor quality investigation or treatment, questions about the results of the mandatory health check or the decision on the determination of the occupational disease.

For health care, first refer to the medical treatment facility, since every medical treatment institution has developed a system for analyzing patient complaints and suggestions since 1 October 2017. If you do not agree with the explanation provided by the medical treatment institution, refer to the Health Inspectorate.

Healthcare services are entitled to provide only medical practitioners included in the Register of Medical Persons and medical treatment institutions registered in the register of medical treatment institutions. Before receiving a health care service, make sure that medical treatment institutions and/or medical treatment persons are registered in the relevant registers.

If harm to health or life has been caused as a result of the actions or inaction of a medical practitioner, refer to Medical risk fund.

Application forms are available on the portal Latvija.lv Public Service Catalogue Service card “Application to the Medical Risk Fund“. If you also ask for reimbursement of medical treatment expenses incurred in order to prevent or minimise the adverse effects of a medical practitioner or harm caused during medical treatment, the Health Inspectorate will ask you to fill out a statement of medical expenses with a list of documents certifying payment.

If necessary, the Health Inspectorate may require you to produce original documents (e.g. illegible payment document (cheques), unclear status of the heir, etc.).

The application shall be submitted to the Medical Risk Fund not later than within 2 years from the date of the discovery of the harm, but not later than within 3 years from the date of causing the harm.

Applications regarding the quality of health care (in order to receive a detailed assessment) and the Medical Risk Fund shall have the right to address:

• a patient whose health has been harmed;
• patient representative;
  • one of the parents of the child, if the patient is a minor;
  • by submitting or presenting to the Health Inspectorate the original of the mandate;
  • the patient's heir, if the patient is dead, by submitting or presenting certificates regarding the part of the spouse's property or the original of the certificate (Medical Risk Fund) to the Health Inspectorate.

You may submit any applications to the Health Inspectorate:

• portal Latvija.lv using e-service “Application Health Inspectorate“;
• using e-address, if the application is signed with secure electronic signature;
• by post;
• on-site;
• when sending to an e-mail address vi@vi.gov.lv, if the application is signed with secure electronic signature.

If it is suspected that a food marketing site (shop, market, catering company) does not comply with hygiene requirements or has observed expired foods, as well as poor quality food, or, if a person has poisoned food, inform the Food and Veterinary Service (PVD):

• when sending a message to an institution using e-address;
• when writing and calling PVD for Regional Administration;
• calling the PVD trust phone 67027402. It is an answering machine in which a complaint must be made after the signal has been sounded. It will be registered, transmitted to the Regional Government of the GPSD, on the territory of which the object referred to in the complaint is located, and inspected;
• when sending an e-mail to an address pvd@pvd.gov.lv.

The PVD must at all times provide the most accurate and detailed information, on the observations or findings:

• where the infringement occurred, the name, city, street of the company. If an exact address is known, it must also be mentioned. In order for the inspector to be able to carry out the inspection, it is necessary to know where to go. It will not be possible to verify a complaint saying that the infringement occurred at the “X” store in Riga. There may be several “X” shops in Riga;
• what an offence was committed. In the case of a complaint concerning a purchased food, the name, the manufacturer, the term of validity, preferably other information in the presentation of the packaging (lot number, weight, price, etc.) must be given;
• if the complainant wishes to be informed of the verification carried out, contact details – telephone number or e-mail must be left. Anonymous complaints are also being examined, but it is not possible to respond to an anonymous complaint.

Any consumer who has purchased a damaged product or an expired product has the right to swap it for another product or to get back on the money spent on the purchase. These operations may only be carried out if the buyer has retained a proof of purchase document, a check. If the goods need to be exchanged or revved to the trader, this must be done as soon as possible.

Food and Veterinary Service doesn't change food goods and doesn't return money.

If, following the consumption of the food purchased or after a meal in the public catering establishment, the consumer has complaints regarding malnourishment, the medical practitioner or medical treatment institution shall immediately apply. In addition, the Food and Veterinary Service shall be informed of the establishment which provided the service in question, the inspectors of the Service shall carry out the necessary checks.

If there are suspicions regarding violations of the regulatory enactments regarding labour law or labour protection, for example, a written contract of work has not been entered into or safe working conditions are not ensured:

• refer to the National Labour Inspectorate. You can easily do this with e-serviceSubmit an application to Labour Inspectorate and get a response from Labour Inspectorate. The service shall ensure the possibility to receive advice from the State Labour Inspectorate or to obtain the action thereof in matters of labour rights or labour protection.

If you want to refer to a specific national or local authority with proposals or complaints:

• by sending the application to the institution, usinge-address, if the application has been signed withsecure electronic signature;
• use e-service “Application to the Authority“. Select the desired authority in the service and prepare and submit an application by following the required steps.

Cabinet Regulation No. 473 of 28 June 2005 Electronic documents for the Preparation, Drawing Up, Storage and Circulation of State and self-government institutions, and the Procedures by which electronic documents between State and self-government institutions, or between these institutions and natural and legal persons.

Application forms to be submitted to the seller or service provider and the Consumer Rights Protection Centre.

Consumer protection law.

My data in state registers

Leaving and receiving a heritage

E-services, benefits and usage