Medical institutions ordered to return 900 million soums unjustly taken from consumers

Several medical institutions have been instructed to return approximately 900 million soums, which were unjustly charged to over 44,000 consumers. This was announced by the Committee for the Development of Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights.

During inspections conducted on the quality of services in Tashkent's medical institutions, including metrological checks of medical equipment, six medical facilities were found to have charged excessive fees. These institutions include the Central Multidisciplinary Polyclinic of Yunusabad District, Inter-District Dermatology Dispensary No. 3, City Clinical Hospital No. 7, Tashkent City Emergency Medical Care Clinical Hospital, Inter-District Perinatal Center No. 9, and Ibn Sino City Clinical Hospital. These institutions had collected a total of 806 million soums from more than 17,000 consumers.

Additionally, the Qibray District Medical Association in the Tashkent region provided services for a year using equipment with expired warranties. From August 2023 to October 2024, 550 patients were overcharged a total of 25 million soums due to the use of uncertified medical equipment.

In the Syrdarya region, investigations at the Regional Children’s Multidisciplinary Medical Center revealed that, from 2021 to 2023, more than 25,775 consumers paid over 60 million soums for over 200 types of paid services without justification.

As a result of these violations, territorial bodies of the committee initiated legal cases against the medical institutions involved, citing breaches of Articles 6 and 21 of the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights" and Resolution No. 225 of the Cabinet of Ministers. The institutions have been ordered to return the unjustly collected 900 million soums to over 44,000 consumers.