A. M. 
The Defensoría del Consumidor’s of El Salvador has released the number of complaints received during the “Defensoria Agostina” plan. The president of the institution, Ricardo Salazar, revealed that during the recent August holiday, the Defensoría del Consumidor provided a total of 3,732 advisories and attended 229 complaints. This activity reflects a significant effort by the institution to solve consumer problems during a period of high demand.
As for the distribution by sector, the report highlights that 38.9% of the services provided were concentrated in general services, with a total of 1,574 cases. Financial services followed with 963 cases, representing 24.2% of the total. In telecommunications, 369 cases were attended, equivalent to 6.3%, while electric energy registered 253 cases, 6.4% of the total.
In addition, Salazar reported that more than 4,000 complaints were received in total. Of these, 44% belong to the telecommunications sector, where the most frequent problems include breach of contract (24%), undue charges (9%) and over-indebtedness. These data highlight the most critical areas requiring urgent attention.
In addition, it was emphasized that the Defensoría del Consumidor continues to carry out ongoing inspections on the prices of basic food basket products. These inspections cover supermarkets, markets, wholesale stores and stores in general, with the objective of guaranteeing that prices are fair and that there are no abusive practices. In the event that prices are abused, the institution reports fines of up to 500 minimum wages.
