Press Statement - World Consumer Rights Day 2014

INTRODUCTION
15 March is World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD), an annual occasion for celebration and solidarity within the international consumer movement. The theme for this year is “Fix our phone rights”.  Historically, WCRD is set on this day to coincide with the date in 1962 when former US President John F Kennedy first outlined the definition of Consumer Rights. We in Malawi , Join the international community in commemoration of this day.

In his speech to Congress on 15 March 1962, President Kennedy said consumers were the largest economic group in the economy, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. In that landmark speech, he identified four consumer rights namely;

• right to safety - protection against goods which are hazardous to health or life;
• right to information - protection against fraudulent, deceitful, or grossly misleading information, advertising, labelling, or other practices, and to be given the facts he needs to make an informed choice;
• right to choose - guaranteeing access to a variety of products and services at competitive prices;
• Right to be heard - consumer interests to be accorded full and sympathetic consideration in all government policies and business practices.

It is in that spirit that WCRD has been commemorated internationally since 15 March 1983. In 1985, building on the work of JF Kennedy, the UN adopted guidelines on consumer protection focusing on seven main areas: physical safety, promotion and protection of consumers' economic interests, standards for the safety & quality of consumer goods / services, distribution facilities for essential consumer goods and services, consumer redress measures; education and information programmes and measures relating to specific areas (food, water and pharmaceuticals).

This year’s theme “Fix our Phone Rights” provides an opportunity for Malawian consumers to demand that their phone rights are promoted, protected and respected. It is an opportunity to call upon phone operators to evaluate their services and take concrete steps to address practices which promote market abuses and social injustices. For the avoidance of doubt, a consumer is the Communications sector is any person to whom a service has been rendered

COMMUNICATION CONSUMER RIGHTS

The major aspect of consumer protection is all about ensuring that the rights of consumers are protected. It therefore follows that without rights there can be no entitlement to consumer protection. Generally, consumer rights are  provided in the Consumer Protection Act. In addition to those, there is need to lay down consumer rights to which phone users are entitled to.
The following are just some of the rights consumers can demand from phone operators:

• The Right to Access Information –to be informed of the Communication Consumer Bill of Rights as well as to be granted reasonable access to all relevant information that will enable the consumer to make an informed decision when selecting mobile service products. Consumers have a right to receive clear, transparent and complete information about the rates, terms and conditions for all services and products.

• Right to High Quality, Reliable Communication Service – the right to high quality, reliable service that meet appropriate, clearly defined, publicly available and regularly monitored quality of service benchmarks and standards. Broadly speaking, quality of service maybe assessed in terms of the number of complaints received by phone operators and how satisfactorily these complaints have been handled.

•  Right to be protected against Market abuse – the right to be protected from market abuses such as unfair trade practices, false and misleading advertising and anti-competitive behaviour, unfair and irresponsible marketing. An advert is misleading if it contains a false statement of fact or conceals important facts or promises to do something but there is no intention of carrying it out.

• Right to a fair and transparent billing: Consumers have a right should be protected from fraudulent bills. Consumers have a right to reasonable tariffs and transparency in the billing system including the allocation of voice minutes, text messages and data allowances for the various mobile products. Consumers should not be billed for services they did not consume.

CONSUMER OBLIGATIONS / RESPONSIBILITIES

Consumerrights are best safeguarded when consumers fulfill their duties and responsibilities.  These duties are to:

• take initiative to acquire necessary knowledge
• behave  self-reliantly and rationally
• exercise due care when making decisions in the market place
• honor reasonable obligations arising from their decisions or agreement.
•  be assertive in the exercise of their rights
• protect all communication equipment and facilities within their vicinity
• access safety issues such as age suitability of use of communication devices and services e.g. parental control in broadcasting.

THE ROLE OF REGULATORS – MACRA AND CFTC

The role of the CFTC is to protect the market and consumers from abuse. Under the Competition and Fair Trading Act, the CFTC has general powers in relation to competition and fair trading matters on the market. On the other hand, under the Communication Act, MACRA has powers in relation to competition and consumer protection matters in the communication sector.

In view of this, the CFTC and MACRA entered into a cooperation agreement in 2013 which provides the platform for the two regulators to interact with each other on matters relating to anti-competitive behaviour, unfair trading practices, consumer protection, mergers and acquisitions and market analysis and other research. As CFTC and MACRA we endeavour to work together to ensure that consumer rights in the Communications sector are respected.

The general public is therefore invited to register the challenges they face in accessing communication services to the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) via the email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or simply slot in the concerns in a suggestion box installed in all Post Offices and Telecentres countrywide. Alternatively, they may also register their complaints on consumer violations to the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) via email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

The mailing address for the two organisations are as follows:

Director General                                                        Executive Director
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority               CFTC
Salmin Amour Road                                                   Red Cross Complex
Private Bag 261                                                         Private Bag 332
BLANTYRE                                                                 Lilongwe
Malawi                                                                      Malawi
Telephone: (+265) 01 883 611                                    Tel: +2651774838
Fax:   (+265) 01 883 890                                            Fax: +2651774837