OBJECTIVES
This chapter:
lays down the important of consumer
protection rights for consumer
CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Consumer protection laws are statutes governing sales and
credit practices involving consumer goods. Such statutes
prohibit and regulate deceptive or Unconscionable advertising
and sales practices, product quality, credit financing and
reporting, debt collection, leases, and other aspects of
consumer transactions.
Function of consumer protection
Safeguards consumer rights.
enhancing product safety standard.
preventing use of deceptive marketing techniques.
CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1999
• CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1999 to ensure and protect the rights of
consumers and, in particular to review and keep under review business practices, to
regulate product safety, to ensure the provision of adequate information to the
consumer and to monitor the timeliness of repairs and other services
You can expect
If you were goods to be of a
promised free reasonable
gifts, they MUST quality
be given to you
5 CONSUMER
RIGHTS
PROTECTION
UNDER CPA 1999 Sample cannot be
You can get a refund different from the
for rejected items actual product
Manufacturer must
honor express
guarantees/warranties
1. If you were promised free gifts, they MUST be
given to you
• Free gifts with purchases are pretty common in the market, whether
its offered by the supermarket/store or the manufacturers
themselves. It’s especially common with toothpaste purchases, it
seems. Over the years the purchase of toothpaste has been
accompanied by free bowls, plates, cutleries, and mugs. Did you
know that if these free gifts are advertised, you are entitled to them?
This is provided under section 14(1) of the CPA.
(1) No person shall offer any gift, prize or other free item -
(a) with the intention of not providing it; or
(b) with the intention of not providing it as offered.
• The promisor of the gift has to also give the gift as it was offered. If they offered
a free cup, and they want to now give you a free plate, it’s a no-go unless you
agree to accepting the plate as a substitute gift.
• If a free gift is advertised, but the price of the actual product you wanna buy is
jacked up, or the quality of the product is lowered, to cover for the cost of the
gifts, that’s not allowed either under section 14(2).
• But there’s a catch. There’s always a catch with free gifts. Section 14(3) allows
for the store or the manufacturer to impose reasonable conditions on the offer
of gifts. This is where you will see that small asterisk (*) and it says that the gift
is “available while stocks last”. It’s reasonable because they won’t have an
infinite supply of the gift.
2. You can expect goods to be of a reasonable quality
• All the goods that you are buying must be can used. Must have a reasonable quality.
• Imagine buying a USB cable to charge your phone, and finding out later that it doesn’t work. The CPA
provides for these sort of situations as well.
• Section 32 of the CPA:
• (1) Where goods are supplied to a consumer there shall be implied a guarantee that the goods are of
acceptable quality.
• Goods must be of acceptable quality. What is acceptable quality, really? The criteria for goods of acceptable
quality are listed in sections 32(2)(a) and (b). It’s quite a long list, and among the criteria are:
• fit for all the purposes for which goods of the type in question are commonly supplied
• acceptable in appearance and finish
• durable
• safe
• free from minor defects
3. Sample cannot be different from the actual product
• Showing sample units of products is a very common marketing technique used widely.
Supermarkets have samples of food and drinks, electric appliance stores have samples of various
products, and phone stores have samples of… phones. It only makes sense that the actual product
would correspond with its sample.
• Section 35 of the CPA:
• (1) The following guarantees shall be implied where goods are supplied to a consumer by reference
to a sample or demonstration model:
• (a) that the goods correspond with the sample or demonstration model in quality; and
• (b) that the consumer will have a reasonable opportunity to compare the goods with the sample or
demonstration model.
• Consumers must also be given a chance to compare between the sample or display unit and see if
there are any discrepancies. If the goods come with a description, for example: The new iPhone 8
comes with 16 GB RAM, then the product must have the corresponding amount of RAM.
4. Manufacturer must honor express
guarantees/warranties
• Section 38 of the CPA guarantees your manufacturer guarantee , but what is manufacturer’s
guarantee? It’s what is commonly known to us as the warranty of a product. Let’s take a look at
section 38.
• Section 38 of the CPA:
• (1) An express guarantee given by a manufacturer of goods which are supplied to a consumer shall
bind the manufacturer to the extent specified in subsections (2), (3) and (4).
• An express guarantee given by a manufacturer is binding. That means whatever the warranty that
was given to the consumer, for example if your phone malfunctions within a certain amount of
time, usually 1 year, the manufacturer will either make a 1 to 1 exchange, or repair it for free, must
be honoured. You may have notice that many items come with a little slip of paper, or a little
booklet that sets out the conditions of said guarantee. This paper or booklet binds the
manufacturer to obey the terms of the guarantee… unless it was given without their authority, like
say if it was stolen.
5. You can get a refund for rejected items
• In the CPA, the refunding of money or a replacement of product is covered under sections 45 and
46 of the CPA. Usually, a consumer has to reject the goods to get a refund or a replacement.
Section 45(1) of the CPA:
(1) The consumer shall exercise the right conferred under this Act to reject goods by notifying the
supplier of the decision to reject the goods and of the ground or grounds for the rejection.
• This means a consumer can reject goods if they tell the supplier that they want to do so, and why
they want to do so. A simple example is if you’ve bought an article of clothing that is the wrong
size. If the store allows it, you can just bring it back with the tags and receipt, and exchange it for
the right size.
4. Manufacturer must honor express
guarantees/warranties
• Section 38 of the CPA guarantees your manufacturer guarantee , but what is manufacturer’s
guarantee? It’s what is commonly known to us as the warranty of a product. Let’s take a look at
section 38.
• Section 38 of the CPA:
• (1) An express guarantee given by a manufacturer of goods which are supplied to a consumer shall
bind the manufacturer to the extent specified in subsections (2), (3) and (4).
• An express guarantee given by a manufacturer is binding. That means whatever the warranty that
was given to the consumer, for example if your phone malfunctions within a certain amount of
time, usually 1 year, the manufacturer will either make a 1 to 1 exchange, or repair it for free, must
be honoured. You may have notice that many items come with a little slip of paper, or a little
booklet that sets out the conditions of said guarantee. This paper or booklet binds the
manufacturer to obey the terms of the guarantee… unless it was given without their authority, like
say if it was stolen.
Section 46(1) of the CPA:
(1) Where the consumer exercises the right to reject goods conferred under this Act,
the consumer may choose to have -
(a) a refund of any money paid or other consideration provided by the consumer in
respect of the rejected goods; or
(b) goods of the same type and of similar value to replace the rejected goods where
such goods are reasonably available to the supplier as part of the stock of the
supplier, and the supplier shall make provision accordingly
•To simplify, if you’ve rejected the goods, you can choose to either get a refund of
money, other consideration (maybe a guarantee of free repairs in the future) or an
exchange of the same type of goods that is similar in value.
