Citizens’ rights and the law

Jan 28, 2018 Editorial

The state of affairs in relation to the protection of the rights of consumers in Guyana needs attention. Some inroads have been made with the passing of the Consumer Protection Bill and the bolstering of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission.
The question as to whether enough has been done still has merit however, since to a large extent, most of the challenges facing consumers remain. A number of relevant factors collectively contribute to this reality.
Citizens are still not fully aware of their rights, we lack the human resources necessary to effectively police the system, businesses will not conform to new expectations until they are forced to do so and the watchdog groups required to support the work of the government agencies do not exist.
A visit to the commercial centres across this country would underscore the need for greater protection for our citizens. It is not uncommon to find businesses still unabashedly curtailing customers’ rights to refunds and exchanges for faulty products and services.
Consumers are still saddled with goods—even pharmaceuticals—with foreign language labels or no labels at all. In the latter cases, our consumers are oblivious of the contents, weight and nutritional or other value of the products they are purchasing.
Likewise, one would be hard-pressed to find a consistent approach to warranties on goods that comply with the established laws. Bait and switch and other underhand practices that dupe the average consumer are common in advertising.
Hire-purchase and loan contracts are devoid of the basic protections one would expect and have led to untold numbers of consumers being hoodwinked on a daily basis. The list of prevailing abuses goes on with little sense of change in sight. Few of the victims are aware of or even bother to pursue the recourse options currently available to them and in frustration, some have recently aired their grievances in the press.
In the first instance, a more broad-based, sustained consumer rights education approach needs to be implemented. Our citizens need to have ready access to information that informs the decisions they make in relation to purchasing goods and services.
Consumerism can go a long way in changing the status quo, since customers armed with the relevant knowledge make better, more informed decisions, thereby forcing commercial entities to conform to expectations. It is important therefore for consumer education to include the school-age population in their target audience so that over time, a new culture could be created where an appreciation of the totality of one’s rights as a consumer is a given.
Equally important is the enforcement of the existing laws. Our history demonstrates that without enforcement, many of our laws, despite being well placed and relevant, are meaningless. The sad reality is that many of the businesses will not comply with the regulations until some are made an example of and are dragged before the courts.
There is no basis upon which one would expect that the current commercial practices of some would change overnight without strong legal pressure. Legalism and consumerism combined over time can serve to bring about a change in behaviour to the benefit of all citizens. Equally important is the presence of watchdog groups that consistently monitor prevailing practices and highlight any transgressions.
Lastly, the avenues and mechanisms for recourse must be known, readily available and responsive to the plights of consumers. Highly bureaucratic structures only serve to dissuade the average person from reporting grievances and following up cases.
The status quo needs to and can change; it requires a number of different factors to synchronize and collectively orchestrate a new reality for consumers.

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