Consumer Protection - Essay Example

?Consumer protection Introduction It is the primary duty of the government to protect the welfare of the consumers in any economy. Government laws on consumer protection also provide for redress mechanisms where the rights of the consumers in the contracts have been violated (Harvey and Parry 1996). In order to deal with obstacles in contracts, the government must interfere with free contracts in a negative manner that to the majority of citizens it would seem positive. According to Green, the government had assumed unlimited powers of intervention (Gerven, Stuyck and Wouters 2001). According to Green’s statement, not citizen should be forced to enter in to a contract that is against his free will. Green emphasizes on the need of the government to intervene since it would be able to prevent tragedies from happening. According to Green, the government should promote and safeguard social, economic and political environments so that individuals can act freely according to their will (Howells 2010). However, the government should not excessively intervene in the consumer contracts since it may curtail the ability of individuals to act according to the conscience thus slowing down economic growth and development. The government is supposed to intervene in matters that endanger the consumer rights and liberties (Jones and Hutter 2011). According to Green, the State has the final decision in deciding how the industries should be regulated in order to safeguard the rights of the consumers (Howells and Weatherill 2005). Consumer protection entails designing laws and Statutes that ensure the rights of consumers are respected as well as promoting fair competition and trading policies. Consumer protection statutes are government regulations that aim at protecting the rights of the citizens. The Office of Fair Trading of the UK is one of the government agencies that protect consumers by ensuring fair competition practices in the economy (Kleinschmidt 2006). The UK government has a duty to ensure the health and safety of the citizens is not compromised by defective or harmful products. The government is also supposed to protect the consumers from deceiving marketing information that is aimed at making misrepresentations to the consumers by creating a positive image of the products and services (D’Agostino 2008). The government also protects the consumers through regulations on information dissemination that aim at remedying the high market transactions costs and market distortions (Hancher 1990). The government also protects the rights of consumers on the standards of services offered by service providers like the medical services, insurance services and banking services. The government has a duty to protect the welfare of consumers in contracts, consumers rights are protected during bankruptcy proceedings (Gunning, Holm and Kenway 2009). There are numerous laws that protect consumer interests in the UK. For instance, the competition Act 1998 prohibits businesses from engaging in anti-competitive agreements during the course of their business operations (Goldring 1998). Some of the anti-competitive practices that have been outlawed are price fixing, agreements to reduce the volume of production, carve up markets and customer discrimination by charging different prices when difference of supply does not exist. The Act prohibits the businesses from use of dominant market power, like 40 percent market share to impose unfair trading practices to the consumers or to decline supplying to the existing customers without any justifiable reasons. Penalties for anti-competitive practices range from 10 percent of the company turnover to disqualification of the business directors (Turner and Martin 2005). In the UK, numerous Acts of Parliament have outlined the responsibilities of sellers to buyers. All the transactions between the buyer and seller are governed by a contract. According to the Sale of Goods Act of 1979, the goods sold must adhere to the description provided to the buyer. If the sale is made through the provision of a sample, all other components of the goods should be of the equivalent standard as the sample provided before the contract is made. The Act also outlines the satisfactory quality of the goods. According to the Act, the goods must be fit for the purpose that they are intended to serve. Some of the quality that is considered includes the durability, safety and appearance of the good in determining the quality and ability to meet the purpose (Lang and Gabriel 2006). The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 provides for the contracts of supply of services. According to the Act, the supplier of the service should have the necessary skills and should provide the service with reasonable skill and care. The Supply of goods Act of 1973 provides for the implied terms in relation to hire-purchase contracts. Some of the terms include the description of the goods that should be accurate and the legal right of the seller to the goods to the transactions (Steele 2007). In the case of Scott and Scott v. Blade motor Company, the court held that a car can be delivered back to the supplier if not of the quality specified in the contract. In the case of Clegg v. Olle Anderson, the court observed that buyers who initially accept goods of unsatisfactory quality will lose their right to reject the good later. The court held that, the consumer cannot reject a product if a defect develops later after the acceptance (Howells 2010). The major government legislation that protects the consumers in the UK is the Consumer Protection Act of 1987; the Act covers three main areas that include the product safety, misleading pricing and consumer safety (Friedman and Miles 2006). The Act guarantees consumers protection from damages incurred from consumption of defective products or personal injuries caused by the faulty products. The Act provides for the minimum safety standards of production of goods and channels that consumers can use to seek redress for damages, and injuries suffered from the use of defective goods or relying on false information to enter in to business contracts (Ramage 2004). Another controversial case of consumer protection is the Worsley V Tambrands Limited 1994. Worsley used Tambrands products for a certain period of time. The product contained a warning on the package that contained the details of risk of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and included a client advice on the need to see a physician once the client starts experiencing the symptoms. Worsley experienced the symptoms and sought medical attention but did not inform the doctor about her usage of the product. The doctor treated her for food poisoning. Her condition did not improve and sought legal action against Tambrands Limited. She argued that according to the consumer protection Act, the manufacturer sold a defective product and the warnings were inadequate. The court concluded that the manufacturer had complied with his legal duty of providing warnings on the dangers of consuming the product. According to the consumer protection Act, manufacturers are supposed to warn consumers in advance of the dangerous of consuming a product by inserting a notice in the packaging of the product ((Howells 2010). According to the Consumer protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, unfair commercial practices that contravene professional diligence or distort market forces are prohibited (Coteanu 2005). Advertisements should not confuse other products, logos, trade markets or the brand distinguishing names of the competitor products (Hackley 2010). The commercial advertisements should not contain false information that is intended at deceiving the average consumer (McDougall and Popat 2010). The regulations prohibit aggressive commercial practices like the use of abusive language, imposing non-contractual barriers to consumers who wish to exercise their rights under the contracts or threats of legal actions that are not admissible according to the business contract (Cseres 2005). Other commercial practices that are unfair include false claiming to be a signatory to a code of conduct and false claims of authorization of the product by a public or private body that regulates the standards of the product. Demonstrating defective samples and falsely claiming the products are available for limited duration are also unfair commercial practices that are prohibited. Making consistent and justified solicitations through telephones to the extent a contract is formed without the free will of the consumer or false claiming the product will cure an illness constitute unfair and illegal commercial practices (Weatherill 2005). The Weights and Measures Act of 1985 safeguards against substandard weight the products. The Act was enacted to ensure that products weight of the products conformed to the weight indicated in the packaging of the product. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 protects against infringement of copyrights and trademarks thus protecting consumers from false information on the trademarks of the products (Coteanu 2005). Another main area of consumer protection is on privacy and confidentiality of personal data. The Data protection Act 1984 was enacted to regulated use of confidential information of the consumers that may be stored in computers. All organizations holding private and confidential data of the clients should register such information with the Data Protection Register (Craig 2012). According to the Act, data must be acquired through legal means, it must be used only for the purpose intended and must not be disclosed unless such disclosure serves the purpose it was intended. Also, the consumer must be allowed to access their information and proper security mechanisms should be implemented to safeguard against unauthorized gain to such private and confidential data (Winn 2006). However, there are other independent consumer organizations in the UK that aim at protecting the rights of consumers in the business contracts. Examples of such institutions include Consumer Association that provides consumers with guidance on business contracts and Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) that is funded by the local authorities in order to facilitate consumers’ access of contract information. The National Consumer Council has no statutory powers but represents the consumers in government contracts and lobbies for increased consumer protection (Friedman and Miles 2006). The customs authority is empowered to seize and detain goods that contravene the quality and safety regulations at the borders in order to safeguard the health and safety of consumers. The secretary of State can issue a prohibition notice when satisfied that the goods in question are unsafe or issue a warning to the supplier of goods in case of unfair advertising practices (Cartwright 2001). Conclusion The government should intervene in the contracts in order to safeguard the welfare of the citizens. The government enacts laws to guide business contracts and the quality standards of production of goods. The government should also provide for mechanism and channels that consumers can use to seek compensation for damages suffered due to consumption of defective products and services. Consumer protection in the UK has facilitated the dissemination of product information and the reduction in transaction costs. Bibliography: Cartwright, P. 2001. Consumer protection and the criminal law: law, theory and policy in the UK. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. Coteanu, C. 2005. Cyber consumer law and unfair trading practices. Aldershot. Ashgate. Craig, P. 2012. EU administrative law. Oxford. Oxford University press. Cseres, K. 2005. Competition law and consumer protection. Hague. Kluwer Law. D’Agostino, G. 2008. Copyright, contracts, creators: digital disadvantage. Cheltenham. 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