Be it the price tag of a car on display in an air conditioned showroom or that of a “wadai’on sale at a roadside kiosk, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) says it is strictly enforcing the mandatory rule that prices be displayed prominently for the benefit of consumers.
The CAA Act is being implemented strictly in the face of growing complaints by consumers that they are being misled due to the non display of price tags as well as details such as expiry dates, dates of manufacture etc, CAA Chairman Rumy Marzook said. “Whatever is being sold has to have a price tag. That is a legal requirement,” Mr.Marzook said. In the first three months of the year itself, the CAA has earned Rs 19 million in fines from those violating the CAA Act in comparison to Rs 30 million earned for the whole of 2010.
He said that in a series of directives issued under the CAA Act in the past few months, several new measures have been taken to protect consumer rights. Among these, it has been made mandatory that a six months guarantee be given to all electronic products that are sold in the country. “ If an item sold is found to be defective, the consumer must get the opportunity to exchange it within a reasonable period of time,” he said.
Mr.Marzook said that he has also directed car sales outlets to display the price tag on each vehicle on dispalay. “Let the consumer go into a showroom and look at the price and then decide where they want to make the purchase. By not displaying the price tag, there is room for the same product to be sold at different prices and this is a disadvantage to the consumer,” Mr.Marzook added.
In the latest directive issued last week, all manufactures and traders have been asked to ensure that the maximum retail price, batch number, expiry date and date of manufacture as well as net weight and volume be displayed clearly on a large number of products.
These include cosmetic products such as hair products, lotions and talcum powders, instant food sold in packets or containers, ayurveda products sold in packs, food colouring, flavouring etc. The directive will take effect from September 1, this year.
Consumers can call in with their complaints to the CAA on 2399146. |
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