MOSCOW, March 15 - RAPSI. The State Duma will consider a bill raising the fine for misleading consumers fivefold in the first reading on March 19.

The penalty for substandard work performed for legal entities will increase from 20,000-30,000 rubles ($975) to 100,000-300,000 rubles ($9,750). Cheating customers in accounts or incorrectly weighing items in shops will be punished with fines of up to 100,000 rubles ($3,250), up from 2,000 rubles ($65).

A repeat offense will call for the suspension of the company's operations.

One of the bill's sponsors, First Deputy Head of the Duma Industry Committee and First Vice President of the Russian Engineering Union Vladimir Gutenev, said that the changes have been needed for a long time.

"The administrative fines for violating consumer rights were set several years ago in the Administrative Offense Code and now they are unreasonably low," he told the media. "It is frequently cheaper to pay a fine than to improve the operation." Customers should have confidence in the sellers or the contractors whose services they use. They are entitled to complete information about a product or a service. Consumer rights need to be guaranteed by the seller's integrity, as well as by legal protection, he added.