Competition Committee takes legal action against six healthcare providers for overcharging, orders refunds for 127,000 patients

The Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee conducted a comprehensive assessment of financial practices across eight prominent medical facilities between 2023 and 2025. The regulatory audit focused on the pricing and execution of paid healthcare services within specialized republican medical centers, healthcare networks in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the Takhiatash District Medical Association.

Investigators identified several artificial accounting adjustments that drove up healthcare costs for everyday patients. These included unauthorized allocations of 2% of overall revenues to internal employee incentive funds, distorted amortization cost calculations, and the application of maximum profitability limits. Furthermore, some institutions incorporated invalid tax expenses into their pricing formulas and approved time-study operational standards without obtaining the required regulatory clearances.

Following the investigation, the committee initiated formal legal proceedings against six of the audited medical institutions. Alongside orders to eliminate current compliance failures and prevent future violations, the regulatory body issued strict directives mandating the full return of the UZS 285.4 million in unfairly collected fees to the affected 127,000 citizens.

The intervention effectively eliminated the underlying factors that had been artificially bloating local healthcare expenses. As a result, the average cost of paid medical services for the population has decreased by 5–10%.

The crackdown follows earlier regulatory actions on June 19, when the Competition Committee instructed eight republican and regional scientific-practical medical centers to optimize their service rates. Additionally, the government launched a separate "mystery shopper" inspection program inside healthcare organizations on June 12 to continuously monitor compliance with consumer protection laws.