A more effective consumer watchdog

Rarely has the Consumers’ Association been as strong as when it rolled out its proposals to the political parties for consideration in their electoral programmes. Whether any of its proposals will be taken on board is another matter but it is most ironic that matters of direct interest to the consumer, other perhaps than water and electricity rates, are usually given so little importance.

Of course, the parties would deny this but the truth of the matter is that the Consumers’ Association is right in complaining, as shown, for instance, by the extraordinary delay by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority in deciding about the legality or otherwise of an agreement reached with Enemalta’s gas division over the award of exclusive territory to gas distributors. It was only when the distributors pressed their claim for a decision that the authority came out with its ruling, which, as expected, was in favour of the consumer.

The Consumers’ Association’s proposals and its concerns about consumer affairs generally encompass quite a number of key issues, some of which have been discussed for years. The association did not mince words when it said that consumers were being short-changed by intimate ties between political parties and businesses and what it called, in a rather strong language, a castrated authority.

In an island as small as Malta, it is not hard to see the benefits or rewards that accrue from such intimate ties. Proposals for stricter rules and regulations governing party financing have been put forward time and again but there has not been that will or political sense of urgency required to bring about the necessary reforms.

Ideally, the matter ought to be brought up at an early stage of a legislature and not left towards the end when political parties represented in Parliament are usually disinclined to touch existing conditions that may work against their interests.

On a wider platform, the consumers’ watchdog is also proposing the setting up of a Consumer Affairs Parliamentary Committee and a Consumers’ Ombudsman. There may be consumer charters but hard on the ground consumers are often treated shabbily, even by organisations that often claim to have efficient customer service.

An ombudsman with the power to file court cases against companies abusing the consumer, as suggested by the association, could go a long way towards helping to make businesses more alert to the consumer’s needs and feelings. The association said: “We understand that the proposal might seem radical or even superfluous but the lack of an effective consumer rights champion is still being felt.”

The association’s argument can hardly be faulted but something that ought to have been tackled years ago is the state of the Consumers’ Association itself. As it suggested itself, the association ought to be turned into a professional organisation. The problem is how to finance its running.

The association says it could be financed through the penalties paid by companies found to have breached consumer rights, as, it says, happens in Italy and Hungary. But would such source provide enough financial support for the association to be able to become an effective national consumer watchdog?

Some may argue against the award of a government grant to the association as this may influence its decisions in matters connected with government departments or State companies but, although the weight of the argument cannot be ignored, the idea should not bedismissed altogether.