The government’s ‘e-Kalathi’ application is “fully ready”, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said on Monday.

“The application is full ready, as the consumer protection service, which is the competent agency for the matter, informs me,” he told CyBC radio, adding that the project to create it is “in its final stages”.

He added that it is expected to be fully operational in June, and that this is the timeframe in which the contractor assigned the project must deliver it.

On this matter, he said that “exhaustive checks” are being carried out on the application to ensure its “stability and proper operation”.

“It is the goal of the ministry, and more specifically of the consumer protection service, for the application to function correctly from the start, without problems,” he said.

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

Its rollout has been delayed on a number of occasions, with earlier delays having been related to the system’s security.

When the platform is fully operational, it is expected that thousands of products will be listed on it, and that it will include all supermarkets with an annual turnover of €5 million.

Its aim is to allow consumers to compare prices of everyday products at different supermarkets and will comprise a mobile application and a website.