Highlighting the importance of consumer protection, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce (ag) Irfaan Ali said, “The time has come for us to regulate the [cell phone service] sector…”
A release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that the minister was giving the feature address last Friday at a consumers’ awareness forum at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, hosted by the Consumer Affairs Division, in collaboration with the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards to observe World Consumer Rights Day 2014 under the common global campaign theme of ‘Fix our Phone Rights.’
Minister Ali noted that consumers have been allowing themselves to be consumed with the latest models of cell phone, saying that this was why, in the context of telephone services that providers have been spending such large budgets on marketing, and why they continue to change phone technology so rapidly.
The minister also pointed out that the consumers, in addition to allowing themselves to be consumed, also allow themselves to lose redress in protecting themselves when they use the recognised and certified providers.
He highlighted the instance of a customer engaging a little known dealer in unlocking a phone, but in so doing, is losing out on the rights and protection that would have been afforded him by purchasing or having the service provided by a recognised business.
Ali announced, “The time has come for us to regulate the sector and that would require changes at all levels, small cell phone shops around will have to subject themselves to scrutiny, the large company would have to subject themselves to scrutiny, and the consumers will have to subject themselves to scrutiny because when we speak of fair trade and fair play, it is fairness from every stakeholder to the transaction.”
He spoke of several areas in which the providers seek to hide and infringe on the rights of the consumers. He spoke about transparency of the providers’ billing systems, the effectiveness of their consumer complaints mechanism and the issue of hidden cost embedded in contracts/service. He also highlighted the issue of confidentiality of consumers’ personal information.
Among the consumers, telephone providers and regulators participating in the event were, Chairman, Competition and Consumer Affairs Ramesh Dookhoo, Director, GNBS Evadnie Ennis and the Chief Executive Officer, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company, Radha Krishna Sharma.
Dookhoo who also addressed the gathering noted that the level of redress in consumer protection in Guyana had come a far way, from moral suasion to the heights of now having legislation capable of protecting a consumer.
He pointed to the pioneering Consumer Affairs Act of 2004, updated in 2011, which had led to the formation of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) in 2006, which in 2012 begun disseminating information about consumer protection in stores around Georgetown.
He said that the CCAC joined the World Consumer Rights Day campaign to ensure that consumers’ phone rights are protected by warranties, stores have a return policy and phone contracts are written in a fair manner without unfair contract terms.
He said in Guyana there is need to develop specific customers’ charters for the telephone service.
