Maya Manolova, chair of Bulgaria's Consumer Protection Commission (KZP), said the three mobile operators must stop unfair practices towards their customers immediately. They must also offer packages with special terms for older people and people with disabilities, she said. She was speaking at a public reception for citizens in Varna.

Manolova said people on such packages should be able to drop services without paying penalties. She wants operators to stop writing unrequested services into contracts and presenting them as promotions or gifts.

KZP is introducing a "fast track" for complaints about such services. They will skip the conciliation procedures, which take time. Manolova called on affected customers to report problems through every channel, including her personal mobile phone.

She said the commission gets many complaints from unhappy people, most of them pensioners or people with disabilities. Manolova called the operators' practices outrageous. She said one regional Interior Ministry directorate had even gone as far as advising older people to visit telecom offices only with a younger relative.

KZP is negotiating to have the unfair clauses dropped for all customers, but first for older people, Manolova said.

The commission wants retail chains to give Bulgarian customers the same terms they give customers in Germany, and at least normal markups on basic foods. Manolova said retailers can set "whatever markups they decide on electric lawnmowers, mixers, salmon, caviar, avocados, but for basic food products they should be between 15 and 25 percent".

KZP's next big cause is over-the-counter medicines and food supplements. The commission wants their prices set the way they are in Greece. Manolova said people from all over Bulgaria buy medicines online from Greece because they cost half as much there.

"At the moment the prices of over-the-counter medicines and food supplements are set largely because someone decided so, staring into thin air," Manolova said. She said she is not questioning the make-up or quality of the medicines, only the way prices are worked out. She thinks changing this will probably need changes to the law.

KZP is due to check the price of autogas. The commission also keeps fighting for consumers affected by Toplofikatsia Sofia, the Sofia district heating company.

Manolova expects KZP's powers to grow. She said the commission keeps countless registers, its work is getting harder and complaints about online shopping are rising. KZP will change its working rules so that local offices can inform the media and consumers on their own about important topics.

The commission will also rely on volunteers, lawyers and student interns.