The opposition spokesman on consumer affairs, Michael Farrugia, said Maltese consumers seemed to have more confidence in purchasing products from abroad than from Malta.
When gas cylinders were sold higher than the official price... consumers who had paid more were not compensated
They were not as confident as foreign consumers in purchasing local products.
Dr Farrugia suggested that there should be a study carried out in the interests of both the government and of traders. If consumers bought products locally, he added, they would generate more employment in Malta.
Speaking on Monday during the debate in second reading of the Collective Proceedings Bill, he said that as the court application needed to be objectively founded, this could cause certain problems.
While the consumer might have felt that he was objectively aggrieved, the court might be of a different opinion and he would therefore lose the case.
Some might decide not to file an application in court as court expenses might exceed the amount they were requesting.
When gas cylinders were sold higher than the official price, the Authority for Competition and Consumers’ Affairs had only prohibited this practice. Consumers who had paid more werenot compensated.
The authority should not only receive complaints or publish foreign reports. It should be proactive. It was scandalous that after five years of discussion, there was still a situation where a contractor checked, with the head of school, whether children bought their school uniforms from someone else.
Certain families could not afford to purchase more expensive uniforms from the contractor instead of buying them from a department store.
Dr Farrugia also referred to the time when TV providers broadcast two channels without permission and these were withdrawn. While a consumer would have felt objectively aggrieved, the court might use the same reasoning of the authority and ignore the facts.
In a case concerning television and Internet, those who complained were compensated while those who did not complain were not. The authority and the Malta Communications Authority accepted situations where the service provider requested the imposition of higher tariffs despite the fact that there existed a contract between the provider and the consumer.
The authority was also responsible to protect those who were adversely affected by the way certain funds were administered since these investors were also consumers. They trusted those who had given them advice.
Meanwhile, newspapers were threatened that they would forfeit the bank’s adverts if they continued to publish reports on the matter.
Concluding, Dr Farrugia said that the Bill would not strengthen the consumer’s position. He would only be in a better position when the authority was proactive in protecting his interests.