Uzbekistan Classifies Major Visa Operators as Dominant

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Committee for the Development of Competition and Consumer Protection of Uzbekistan has designated VFS Global Services UBKN and Vizametric as holding dominant positions in specific segments of the visa services market, the agency's press service announced.

According to the decision, VFS Global Services UBKN was recognized as dominant in the market for visa processing services for travel to Austria, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, New Zealand, Israel, and Malta.

Vizametric was recognized as dominant in the visa services market for travel to the United States. These decisions were made on the basis of Article 13 of the Law on Competition.

In addition, the committee determined that TLS Contact possesses superior bargaining power in the visa services market for travel to Germany and France. This decision was made in accordance with Article 14 of the Law on Competition.

The agency emphasized that actions leading to the restriction of competition or the infringement of the rights and legitimate interests of consumers and other economic entities are considered an abuse of a dominant position or superior bargaining power.

Previously, bloggers and social media users reported difficulties in scheduling appointments to submit documents for French visas through TLS Contact. Following these reports, a new appointment registration system was implemented in Uzbekistan for short-stay visa processing for France.