Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Consumer Affairs Unit to ‘name and shame’ non-compliant businesses
The Consumer Affairs Unit (CAU) will soon be staging a ‘Name and Shame’ campaign against businesses countrywide that have remained deliberately non-compliant with CAU regulations.
Head of Consumer Affairs Unit, Feyona Austin Paul
Yesterday in an interview with Kaieteur News, CAU’s Feyona Austin-Paul noted that over time businesses have been openly defiant of becoming compliant, emphasizing that the unit has been faced with resistance from several businesses in the West Demerara District and Berbice too.
She said the particulars of those businesses (name, location and area of default) will be featured on the unit’s website and maybe in sections of the media if the need arises. She said that following several countrywide inspections, a high percentage of business have been found to be non-compliant to consumer policies. She said many have reported that they are ignorant of what’s required of them and as such they have been educated.
The Head of CAU noted that on a second visit, most of the said businesses had made no effort to rectify their game, and some have even openly refused to comply with business expectations, hence the unit’s decision to initiate the ‘Name and Shame” campaign. She said during their inspections it has been discovered that many businesses are not up to standard in the areas of packaging, return of goods policies, pricing, proper labeling and other areas.
She added that the campaign will show a zero tolerance approach for non –compliant businesses, adding that the unity may soon derive additional remedies to deal with businesses that fail to “get in shape after this exercise”.
She explained further that for 2018, 45 percent of businesses were actually in compliance with the Consumer Affairs Act, but thus far for this year, only 15 percent have been complying. Meanwhile, in 2018 some159 businesses were inspected of which 88 were non-compliant. This year, so far, 82 businesses have already been inspected and 70 are not in adherence of the consumer laws.
All non-conforming businesses were given a timeframe to correct non-compliance. Re-inspection exercises will be conducted during which the businesses are expected to be fully compliant with the Consumer Affairs Act. Re-inspections have already commenced, according to CAU officials.
The CAU is demanding that businesses comply in order to give consumers value for their money.
According to Austin-Paul too, “The Unit has employed a two-pronged approach whereby suppliers are also educated on the first inspection and given an opportunity to correct any breech of the CAA, but they will be held accountable after. The interest of the consumer is the driving force of the Unit and this will be done objectively at all times ensuring that a level playing field is always maintained for all stakeholders.”
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