The State Labor Inspectorate has issued a reminder about the prohibition of forced voting.

The State Labor Inspectorate has issued a reminder that coercing employees to participate in vote collection or voting under the Open Budget initiative is unacceptable. Citizens who encounter such situations can contact the inspectorate by dialing 1176.

The agency emphasized that coercing employees to participate in voting or vote collection is contrary to Uzbek labor legislation.

According to Article 51 of the Administrative Liability Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, administrative coercion to work entails a fine of 50 to 100 basic calculation units. In monetary terms, this amounts to 20.6 million to 41.2 million soums.

In addition to administrative liability for the perpetrators, detection of coercion can have serious consequences for the project itself. A project that has documented coercion of workers to collect votes or vote may be excluded from the Participatory Budgeting process.

The State Labor Inspectorate urges citizens to report any instances of coercion by calling 1176.