E-kalathi to be Cyprus’ tool for smart shopping

Based on the Cypriot government’s timeline, the introduction of e-kalathi, a new digital platform for monitoring retail product prices, is expected to take place around early 2024. The bill has been given the green light by the Council of Ministers and will soon be presented to the Parliament.

Once passed, e-kalathi will be available as a smartphone application for consumers to use.

Food retailers with an annual turnover of more than 2 million euros in the year before the decree’s enactment will be required to submit prices. Smaller businesses can also participate in the platform voluntarily. Bakeries are excluded from the platform, but price comparisons with similar types of businesses are still allowed. Prices will be updated automatically on the platform, and the retail price of the day will be available every day at 8 a.m. Commodity categories will be introduced by the trade minister, who will select the products with the highest consumption and weight in a household’s basket.

The digital tool for product price monitoring is expected to be ready early in 2024, following the selection of a contractor to create the software.