Competition Council: Latvia's funeral sector lacks unified rules, and the dead are not always kept in morgues
Ieva Šmite, head of Latvia's Competition Council, says the funeral sector needs unified standards and criteria. She says burials of people left without relatives do not currently always take place with dignity.
Latvia's funeral sector needs a single, unified regulatory framework. That is the view of the Competition Council, the state authority that supervises competition in the market. The agency raised the issue after a cartel, meaning a prohibited agreement between companies, was uncovered in the sector.
On the programme "Spried ar Delfi", Council chair Ieva Šmite said the sector must have set standards and criteria. These would be needed so that the burial of people who have no surviving relatives is carried out with dignity.
Šmite said the authority is currently receiving signals that such burials are not being carried out in a dignified manner. She also cited reports that the dead are not always kept in a morgue, although that is what should happen.
The source gives no further details on the companies in the cartel or on specific cases. It also does not say what exact regulatory changes the Competition Council proposes.
