Uzbekistan Proposes Fines for Officials Imposing Unlawful Sanctions on Businesses

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan has proposed introducing administrative liability for officials who impose financial penalties on entrepreneurs without sufficient legal grounds. The relevant draft law, initiated by the Business Ombudsman, has been published for public discussion.

According to the explanatory note, despite ongoing efforts to protect entrepreneurs’ rights, cases of unjustified fines imposed by regulatory bodies remain common, and current legislation does not hold officials personally accountable for such actions.

Data from the Office of the Business Ombudsman show that in 2024, courts reviewed 6,370 complaints from entrepreneurs about unjustified penalties, of which 5,280 were upheld. As a result, fines totaling around 1.4 trillion soums were overturned. In the first half of 2025 alone, 4,738 complaints were filed, and 3,755 of them were upheld by the courts, leading to the cancellation of sanctions worth approximately 3.1 trillion soums.

The draft law emphasizes that the lack of personal responsibility allows certain representatives of supervisory and law enforcement bodies to impose financial sanctions without sufficient grounds, remaining unpunished. Most such cases are resolved by the courts in favor of entrepreneurs, which, according to the initiators, underscores the need for systemic reforms.

The proposed amendment would add a new Article 241–11 to the Administrative Liability Code, establishing fines ranging from 20 to 40 basic calculation units (from 8.24 million to 16.48 million soums) for unjustified financial sanctions against businesses if their illegality is confirmed by a court ruling.

In preparing the document, international experience was studied. For instance, in Kazakhstan, personal liability is borne by the official responsible for the violation, while in Germany, it rests with the state or the institution employing the official. However, if intentional misconduct or gross negligence is proven, the state may seek reimbursement of damages from the official through a recourse claim.

Public discussion of the draft law will continue until November 9.