MISLEADING PROMOTIONS DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON

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The festive season to commemorate Christmas and the New Year brings a lot of excitement and joy to consumers. Usually, traders announce a range of promotions, including massive discounts on products and services.

Some promotions may be genuine while others are not in good faith. Further, some traders will want to increase sales by engaging in some unfair trading practices. These practices are those which adopt any unfair method or unfair or deceptive practice for the purpose of promoting the sale, use, supply or provision of goods and services. Some promotions are deceptive and harmful to consumers as traders strive to cheat consumers through false and misleading representations.

In view of this, the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) wishes to advise consumers to be vigilant and exercise extreme caution against possible misleading or deceptive promotions during the festive season. If an offer is too good to be true, it is possible that they could be a hidden cost or defect.

The Commission further wishes to remind the business community to desist from running deceptive promotions or misleading representations of goods and services. Any  trader found engaging in deceptive promotions will be fined in accordance with the Competition and Fair Trading Act.

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

CHARLOTTE WEZI MALONDA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR