The Committee for Competition Development and Consumer Rights Protection of Uzbekistan has announced the results of comprehensive inspections covering construction company contracts between January and September. The review revealed systemic issues, identifying provisions that severely restrict consumer rights in the agreements of 132 construction organizations across the republic.
Key Takeaways: Over 1,700 complaints regarding construction quality and delayed project deliveries were filed with the committee during the period. Interventions resulted in the recalculation of nearly 14.5 billion soms in favor of consumers, while investigations covered Tashkent and 11 regional divisions.
The widespread discrepancies highlight ongoing vulnerabilities within the country's booming real estate sector, where buyers frequently face unfavorable legal terms. Industry growth has been shadowed by rising friction between citizens and developers, echoing first-quarter statistics that already logged roughly a thousand grievances over delayed handovers and subpar workmanship.
According to the analytical report, 77.3% of the scrutinized contracts failed to specify refund timelines upon agreement termination or mismatched initial payment terms. Furthermore, 63.6% omitted post-acceptance warranty periods, and 59.1% were drafted exclusively to favor the builder. Over half of the agreements lacked provisions for penalties regarding construction delays or obligations to rectify defects during the warranty window.
Additional violations included missing precise handover deadlines in 33.3% of contracts and the use of Russian instead of the state language in 30.3% of documents. Nearly half of the analyzed agreements contained discriminatory clauses, such as withholding 4–15% of the paid amount upon consumer-initiated cancellations, refunding money only after secondary resale, and unilateral price hikes.
In response to these findings, the committee has submitted proposals to relevant authorities to rectify the shortcomings. Officials strongly advise citizens to thoroughly examine real estate contracts and consult legal experts before signing, warning that unauthorized or abusive terms can be challenged through state bodies or the judicial system.
Source: www.gazeta.uz