Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Since the beginning of 2024, Competition Development and Consumer Protection Committee of Uzbekistan has identified price gouging on pharmaceuticals in 473 pharmacies, according to the committee’s press service.

Through investigations prompted by complaints of exceeding reference prices, which are submitted via the Fair Tech system, a total of 49,400 violations were discovered across 133 wholesale and 340 retail outlets. The total unjustified income amounted to 5.4 billion soums.

Of this amount, more than one-third (1.9 billion soums) was in Tashkent, where 71 pharmacies were found to have issued 17,200 receipts with inflated prices.

The second highest amount, 1.01 billion soums, was recorded in Namangan region, with violations found in 44 pharmacies.

Surkhandarya region came third, with 7 pharmacies accounting for 914 million soums through price increases.

Tashkent region had the highest number of pharmacies with violations (111), but the total inflated income was only 39 million soums.

The fewest violations were found in Khorezm, with 5 pharmacies and 10 million soums. In Kashkadarya region, the discrepancy due to inflated prices amounted to 18.8 million soums.

The lists of pharmacies involved in selling drugs at inflated prices are published on the committee’s official pages, and appropriate measures are being taken against them.