Some weeks ago, a consultative document mapping out a national consumer education strategy was issued by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.
This, in itself, is a laudable initiative. One may not agree with all the proposals made, however, certainly there can be no dispute over the need to discuss this subject, assess the current situation and plan properly for the future.
I encourage all those interested to respond to this document and make their comments. However, the launch of this document brings me to what I believe is an even more pressing need that should feature prominently on the national consumer agenda, namely a comprehensive review of all resources, whether from the public regulatory side or the private/non-governmental side, that deal with consumer affairs.
As far as I can recall, the only occasion where a comprehensive review of consumer affairs was undertaken was back in 1991 when the Administration of the day undertook a review of the laws regulating consumer affairs, proposing changes to the laws and new regulatory and adjudicative structures.
I believe it is time for a similar exercise to be undertaken with a stock taking of all the resources available both in the public and private sectors coupled with a general review of the laws that protect consumers.
Malta has come a long way since 1991. In some areas, in part fulfilment of EU requirements, tremendous progress has been done. In others there is room for substantial involvement. We have in place a myriad of consumer protection laws relating to different sectors ranging from financial services to the utilities. However, there are some practical measures that have either not been implemented at all or else have been implemented only in part.
One idea that has been mooted is to have a one-stop shop for consumer enquiries, a sort of consumer gateway to guide consumers around the labyrinth of laws, regulatory authorities and redress mechanisms.
Consumers’ weak support and participation in consumer associations continues to undermine effective consumer protection. The strategy towards such associations needs to be reviewed radically.
At law, a number of positive measures have been introduced, not least the recent Collective Proceedings Act. Conversely, few concrete measures have been implemented whereby consumer associations, such as the Consumers’ Association, are effectively able to take up the gauntlet on behalf of consumers both financially and also by way of human resources.
Exemption from Court Registry fees by recognised consumer associations when initiating collective proceedings is a positive measure. However, much more needs to be done.
The Consumers’ Association lacks the financial resources to engage professional staff and until this matter is properly addressed the continued reliance on unpaid volunteers will continue to undermine the effectiveness of the consumer movement in Malta.
The government needs to give careful thought whether and how consumer associations should be financially supported. Until this is done we will remain in a situation where we have a lot of good laws that are not complemented by a strong pro-consumer lobby able to intervene to effectively safeguard consumers’ rights.
Yet another area where some long-term thinking is required relates to the role of appellate fora. Last year, the Competition and Consumer Appeals Tribunal was set up to determine appeals from regulatory decisions taken by MCCAA. One should consider whether its remit should be extended gradually to other consumer and competition laws not enforced by MCCAA.
Other matters that come to mind include the effectiveness of the Consumer Claims Tribunal in ensuring compliance with its decisions, the limited use of ADR and whether one should consider the introduction of a proactive consumer watchdog in the shape of a consumer ombudsman similar to the Nordic model.
These are a few of the issues that should feature in a comprehensive review of a subject that is dynamic but, regrettably, is not always given its due importance.