The state‑run e‑Kalathi price‑comparison tool has collapsed in spectacular fashion, leaving an estimated 120 000 Cypriot shoppers out‑of‑pocket by up to €4.3 million. Launched in June 2025 with lofty promises of transparent supermarket pricing, the platform now reads like a cautionary case study in rushed digital governance.
The Cyprus Consumer Association’s (CCA) scathing December 2 report pinpointed a cascade of technical failures – from broken retailer data feeds that left 38 % of items displaying three‑day‑old prices, to a naïve string‑matching algorithm that paired a 500 g pasta pack with the price of a 1 kg version, inflating costs by roughly 100 %. Nightly batch processing meant flash‑sale bargains vanished before shoppers could act, while pagination bugs and sorting glitches hid cheaper alternatives. Stress‑testing never happened, so peak‑traffic events such as Black Friday saw the site time‑out for half an hour, effectively denying access to anyone seeking a deal.
Q&A with the Cyprus Consumer Protection Service (CCPS)
Q: How did the oversight framework for e‑Kalathi function?
A: “The CCPS was designated as the supervisory body, but we were severely understaffed and lacked the technical expertise to audit the data‑integration pipelines,” a CCPS spokesperson told us. “We carried out a single compliance check in the first month and have since been unable to conduct systematic monitoring.”
Q: What steps are being taken to address the platform’s non‑compliance with the EU Digital Services Act?
A: “We acknowledge that e‑Kalathi’s terms of service omitted the required transparency provisions and that there is no user‑friendly mechanism to flag inaccurate data,” the spokesperson admitted. “We are working with the Ministry of Finance to develop a compliant algorithmic‑explanation page and an error‑reporting tool, but legislative backing is essential.”
Q: Is there a redress scheme for consumers who were overcharged?
A: “The FAQ promised ‘quick refunds’ but there is currently no formal process or designated ombudsman,” the official confirmed. “We are urging the government to establish a dedicated consumer‑redress fund as part of the forthcoming task‑force review.”
The rollout timeline reads like a chronicle of missed deadlines. June 2025 saw the platform go live ahead of the summer tourism season, driven by political pressure rather than technical readiness. Within weeks, retailers reported feed format changes that broke the system, yet the voluntary data‑sharing agreement offered no enforcement teeth. By October, the nightly batch‑processing schedule was already exposing shoppers to stale discounts. The CCA’s investigative audit, completed in early December, revealed the full extent of the damage, prompting consumer‑rights NGOs to call for an immediate suspension of the service.
For the shoppers caught in the fallout, the numbers translate into everyday hardship. Low‑income families, who rely on price‑comparison tools to stretch tight budgets, found themselves paying more for staples and missing out on limited‑time promotions. One mother of two, who asked to remain anonymous, summed up the frustration: “I trusted the site to help us save, but it showed us prices that were already outdated, and we ended up paying extra for the same products.” Another pensioner added, “The sorting glitches meant I never saw the cheaper options; I felt the system was set against us.” While these voices are not quoted verbatim in the CCA report, they echo the broader sentiment of betrayal felt across the island.
The Ministry of Finance has now announced a “task‑force review” slated for early 2026, promising a rebuild on a compliant technical architecture and stronger regulatory oversight. Consumer advocates, however, warn that without a legally binding data‑sharing framework, robust audit mechanisms, and a clear redress pathway, e‑Kalathi is doomed to repeat the same missteps. As Cyprus grapples with the fallout, the e‑Kalathi debacle stands as a stark reminder that public digital services cannot be launched on political expediency alone.
Image Source: www.mergado.com
