The government’s ‘e-Kalathi’ application “essentially goes unnoticed”, supermarkets’ association chairman Andreas Hadjiadamou said on Monday.

He had been asked by the Cyprus News Agency whether the application has had an impact on supermarkets’ operations or consumer habits, and answered in the negative.

“We do not see any impact from e-Kalathi, speaking both with consumers and with our members. We, the supermarkets, essentially participate, as we are compelled to by law, but beyond that, nothing less, nothing more, it is something which essentially goes unnoticed,” he said.

The e-Kalathi platform was designed to inform consumers of the prices of essential goods and allow them to compare the prices thereof.

It had initially been hoped that it would drive prices down by providing a layer of transparency regarding prices, with then commerce minister George Papanastasiou having said last year that “the power of the consumer stems from knowledge and correct information”.

However, the consumers’ association complained last week that this has not been the case, and had previously lamented that the application falls “well below consumer expectation”.

“Unfortunately, the promises made to us were flatly not kept and consumers were left unprotected once again,” it said.

It had complained that the government had “promised that consumers would be given the opportunity to see the total cost of their basket of shopping”, but that “practically and technically, this possibility does not exist”.

“Consumers have to look for each product separately to find the cheapest supermarket,” it said.