• The Commission resolved 2,366 cases involving 2,933 violations.
• K2, 462,657.24 was recovered in refunds and K1, 774,482.79 was recovered in replacements.
• Total amount recovered was K4, 237,140.03 which is the value of goods and services consumers would have lost.

Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has disclosed that it recovered K2.4 million in refunds and K1.7 million in replacements out of 2,366 consumer complaints resolved in 2021 involving 2,933 violations.
Commission Executive Director Chilufya Sampa observed that majority of consumer complaints were from the Insurance, Retail, Microfinance, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Construction sectors which collectively accounted for 86.13% of the complaints.
Mr. Sampa said the Commission has since continued to collaborate with Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bank of Zambia (BoZ), Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) and Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry in resolving complaints in the financial services sector.
“In 2021, the Commission resolved 2,366 cases involving 2,933 violations. An amount of K2, 462,657.24 was recovered in refunds and K1, 774,482.79 was recovered in replacements. The total amount recovered was K4, 237,140.03 which is the value of goods and services consumers would have lost. The Commission observed that the majority of consumer complaints were from the Insurance, Retail, Microfinance, ICT and Construction sectors which collectively accounted for 86.13% of the complaints.”
“In the Retail sector, most of the cases concerned the supply of defective products, such as mobile phones, television sets, batteries etc. In service sectors like Insurance, Microfinance and ICT, most cases had to do with provision of unsuitable services and misrepresentations, such as failure to pay maturity values for insurance policies or unsolicited deductions from consumer’s salaries or bank accounts. In the Construction sector, most of the cases had to do with non-delivery of building materials,” Mr. Sampa disclosed.

Mr. Sampa further revealed that during the period under review, the Commission received 12 complaints regarding fraudulent and unregistered money saving and investment schemes some of which were advertised on social media and is working with Bank of Zambia, Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) on the said schemes.
He also said in the same period, CCPC handled a total of 68 merger applications compared to 83 mergers in 2020, and the value of merger investments facilitated in 2021 stood at K573, 316, 444 with over 11,334 jobs maintained in various sectors of the economy.
“The Commission experienced a reduction in the number of merger applications assessed. This may have been caused by disruptions and uncertainties in Zambia’s business environment and the global economy at large, brought about by the Corona Virus Pandemic (Covid-19).”
“Of the 68 merger applications handled in 2021, 56 were reviewed and closed as compared to 66 that were reviewed and closed in 2020. This represents a 22.1% reduction in the total number of merger applications handled and a 17.9% reduction in the total number of merger applications reviewed and closed in 2021,” he noted.
He further noted that as the merged companies expand their operations, there is a high likelihood that more jobs will be created because the merger investments cover broad sectors of the economy such as Services, ICT, Energy, Wholesale and Retail, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Mining, Real Estate, Banking and Finance, Insurance, Construction, Transport, Tourism and Livestock.
“In 2021, the Commission through its Inspector’s Project, joint inspections with Local Authorities, the Zambia Compulsory Standards Agency (ZCSA), Zambia Metrology Agency (ZMA) and the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Agency (ZAMRA) inspected 676 trading premises in 24 districts across the country and goods worth K154, 819.05 were seized for not meeting the provisions of the Act or the Food Safety Act No. 7 of 2019. These goods were either expired, improperly labeled, or had damaged packaging.”