— Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission reports

THE Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) in 2021 received a total of 480 complaints valued $211,034,785, marking a three per cent increase in complaints in comparison to last year.

However, the value of the complaints saw a 101 per cent increase when compared with 2020.

Of the 480 complaints received, the commission has thus far solved 412 of them, worth $152,669,832, while 63 cases valuing $ 53,335,953 are still ongoing.

Three cases, worth $ 4,764,000, have not been resolved at the investigative level and were referred to the CCAC board for hearing and decision and two cases valuing $265,000 were resolved by the board.

With 169 complaints received, the category electronics and electronic services accounted for the most complaints; however, the auto industry accounted for the highest value in complaints, with 78 complaints totalling $117,167,673.

Complaints under the electronics and electronic services valued $7,816,711, followed by the auto industry; the construction and building materials category had the second highest value, with 46 complaints amounting to $61,124,229.

There were 51 complaints amounting to $6,849,200 about appliances and appliance services.

Clothing, jewellery and accessories had 29 complaints costing $1,278,810, while furniture and household items had 23 complaints that collectively amounted to $1,907,380, and the airline industry had 16 complaints that totalled $2,163,572.

Machinery and outdoor power equipment had 14 complaints worth $4,093,780 and financial services had 10 complaints valued at $2,768,000.

Internet and cable services had 12 complaints; however, those totaled only $264,500 against rentals which had 10 complaints costing $904,600.

Shipping and online shopping had six complaints worth $600,131.

By administrative region, Region Four, which includes Georgetown, accounted for the most complaints, a whopping 350.

Region Three followed with 63 complaints and Region 10 had 25.

In addition to the 480 cases received in 2021, the CCAC also had 202 unresolved cases from 2020, for a total of 682 open cases in 2021.  Of the unresolved 2020 cases, the CCAC was able to resolve 84 of those cases in 2021. The high number of unresolved cases from 2020 was due to the influx of complaints against the LIAT airline, which suspended operations while still owing millions to its customers and employees.