Consumer Protection

Why do consumers need protection?

Consumers need protection against:

- Misleading advertisements which make false claims “Be surrounded by more men,
use AK Aromatic Perfume!”
- Indecent or immoral advertisements which undermine social standards (for example
using a picture of naked women in a bath to promote a brand of a soap)
- Some advertisements may lead consumers to buy impulsively or to overspend.
- Incorrect or improper labelling of goods, that is, salt may be found in sugar packets.
- Incorrect or wrong weights and measurements (for example, a ten-kilogram bag of
mealie -meal that only weighs nine kilograms)
- The sale of expired goods
- Overcharging or profiteering by some traders, e.g. die to shortages of certain
commodities, some unscrupulous retailers may prey on consumers
- False cutting of prices, e.g. “Reduced prices: was $10, now $6” when the price has
always been $6, “SALE! SALE!” displayed on a shop window by some retailers all
year round.
- Unfair and unlawful repossession of goods bought on hire purchase
- Shoddy (sub-standard) goods resulting from adulteration in which some
manufacturers use inferior ingredients to cut costs of production.
- Conditional selling of goods, i.e. in times of economic hardships, some traders may
force consumers to buy another item before being allowed to buy the required
product.
- Not maintaining proper standards of hygiene where food is prepared and sold such as
in restaurants and take-away shops.
- High pressure salesmanship, e.g. sales representatives, including insurance brokers,
use persuasive language to entice consumers to buy their product.
- Some traders think that some consumers are gullible (foolish).
- Selling harmful or dangerous goods without notifying the consumers about the
dangers.
- Complex goods, i.e. some brands of drugs and their description may be explained in
scientific terms which are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

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 - The sale of goods that are not fit for human consumption.
- Refusal by some manufacturers to honour guarantees, i.e. some manufacturers of
television sets may refuse to repair a faulty television set.
- Traders hoarding goods to create an artificial shortage of the goods.
- disclaimer clauses, e.g. at a supermarket parcel counter, it is inscribed (written),
“Parcels left at owners risk”, thus a trader refuses to be responsible for the loss of, or
damage to, parcels left in his custody.

Consumer rights

Consumers have the following rights:

1. The right to basic human needs

- Consumers must have access to basic goods and services such as food, clothing,
water, shelter, education, health care and sanitation.

2. The right to safety

- Consumers must be protected against goods and services or production processes that
are dangerous to their health.

3. The right to be informed

- Consumers must be given facts and figures required to make informed choices and
decisions.

4. The right to choose

- Consumers must have access to a wide variety or range of goods and services from
which they select what they want.

5. The right to be heard

- Consumers must be allowed to express themselves and lodge complaints.

- Consumers must also be represented in government and other policy-making bodies
to enable them to put across their views.

6. The right to redress

- Consumers must be accorded a fair settlement of just claims.

- Consumers must be compensated for sub-standard goods and services.

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7. The right to consumer education

- Consumers must be provide knowledge of their rights

8. The right to a healthy environment

- Consumers must be protected from environmental hazards such as polluted air.

Consumers must live in a clean and safe environment

Responsible consumer behaviour

- Consumer rights go together with consumer responsibilities.

- Consumer responsibilities mean that there are certain things consumers are expected
to do. These are as follows:
1. Caring for the environment
- Consumers must care for the environment in which they operate and understand the
effects of their actions on the environment.
- There is need to conserve and protect the natural resources so that future generations
can continue to use them.
2. Consumers must unite
- Consumers can join together and organise themselves so that their interests can be
heard by those who make policies.
3. Consumers need to be aware
- It is the responsibility of every consumer to be aware.
- They should question the quality of goods and services and be aware of the prices of
goods.
4. Consumer action
- It is the responsibility of consumers to conserve the resources we have today so that
future generations can use them.

Consumer protection boards

- Consumers are often exploited when they carry out their day-to-day transactions, so
they need protection.
- Consumer protection boards have been put in place to protect consumers from
exploitation by traders, such as the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe and the
Standards Association of Zimbabwe.

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The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ)

The functions of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe

1. It investigates consumer complaints

- The CCZ handles a wide range of complaints between consumers and traders.
- It receives complaints from consumers and investigates them.
- It settles disputes (arbitrates) between consumers and traders.
2. It educates consumers on their rights and responsibilities
- The CCZ educates consumers using workshops, seminars, panel discussions,
meetings, newspapers, radio and television.
3. It provides advice to consumers
- For example, the CCZ advises consumers to buy wisely while comparing prices and
the quality of goods from different shops. Consumers are encouraged to do window
shopping.
4. It encourages proper labelling and fair competition
- The CCZ encourages the proper labelling of goods and fair competition among
manufacturers.
5. It conducts spot checks
- The CCZ makes unannounced visits to retailers to make sure that prices
recommended by government are adhered to and standards of hygiene are maintained.
6. It promotes standards
- The CCZ promotes manufacturing standards of good quality products and ethical,
moral and decent advertising of goods and services.
7. It discourages unfair practices
- The CCZ discourages the use of disclaimer clauses, conditional selling of goods and
misleading and disparaging advertising.
8. It conducts surveys
- The CCZ publishes the results of goods tested and reputable shops to consumers.
9. It lobbies for appropriate consumer legislation
- The CCZ successfully lobbied for the establishment of the Small Claims Court.
10. It carries out market research
- The CCZ uses the results of market research to advise the government to make certain
laws and regulations for the protection of consumers from exploitation.
11. It acts as a watchdog

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 - It publishes the names of unscrupulous traders and discourages profiteering by
overcharging.

The Standards Association of Zimbabwe

The following are the functions of the Standard Association of Zimbabwe:

- It adopts or adapts, modifies and monitors international standards of product

performance, safety and quality.
- It prepares standards of products to be followed by all producers.
- It issues copies of standards specifications to producers.
- It tests goods for quality, safety and performance to protect the consumer from poor
quality goods.
- It authorises manufacturers to use the SAZ seal (mark) of approval.
- It ensures that the quality of products is maintained as approved.
- It encourages uniformity or standardisation of products.
- It provides a library information service on standards
- It provides laboratory testing facilities for manufacturers of products bearing the SAZ
seal.

Methods of protecting consumers

- One form of protection is through a variety of laws and regulations made by the
government
- Another form of protection involves the activities of voluntary organisations, such as
the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe and the Standards Association of Zimbabwe.
- The last form of protection involves consumers themselves, who need to be careful
when making purchases.

Protection by the government

- The government protects consumer through passing laws in parliament that make use
of the Ministry of Health and local authorities.
- The government of Zimbabwe supports the existence of and work done by voluntary
organisations to protect consumers. These organisations Aare:
- The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ)

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- The Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ)
- The Advertising Media Association of Zimbabwe (ADMA)
- The Small Claims Court to protect consumers.
- The government has established various parastatals through Acts of parliament, which
provide goods and services at affordable, competitive prices. The government,
through parliament, has passed the following legislation to protect consumers.
- The Hire Purchase Act guards against unfair and unlawful repossession of goods
bought on credit.
- The Consumer Safety Act ensures that products are safe for human consumption.
- The Fair Trading Act guards against false price cutting, hoarding and conditional
selling of goods.
- The Sale of Goods Act specifies that goods must fit the purpose or description for
which they are sold.
- The Trade Measures Act or Weights and Measures Act guards against underweight,
incorrect weight and measures.
- The Foods and Drug Act or Foods Standards Act guards against adulteration of
products and improper labelling of goods
- The Price Control Act safeguards against the over pricing of goods.
- The Consumer Safety Act ensures that produces are safe for human consumption such
as expired goods.
- The Consumer Contract Act protects consumers against the use of disclaimer clauses
by some traders.
- The Consumers Protection Act makes it an offense to give false or misleading price
indications, for example, advertising that goods were previously sold at a higher price
when they were not.
- The Consumer Credit Act stipulates that advertisements for goods sold on credit must
include a cash price, a credit price and a true rate of interest
- The Merchandise Marks Act prohibits the use of the standards mark (seal) of approval
on untested products.
- The Public Health Act prohibits the use, consumption or sale of dangerous (harmful)
substances, for example, tobacco and liquor, without warnings, such as ‘smoking is
hazardous to your health’.
- The Food and Drinks Act ensures that food labelling on products is clear and truthful.

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 - The Dangerous Drugs Act makes it an offense to mislead consumers about the drug
can heal them.
- The Drug Act stipulates that certain drugs may not be bought over the counter without
a doctor’s prescription.

The Hire Purchase Act

- The Hire Purchase Act guards against the unfair and unlawful repossession of goods
bought on credit. The following process happens during the hire –purchase period.
- goods are insured by seller
- goods are owned by seller
- Goods are guaranteed by the manufacturer
- The rate of deposit is legislated
- The consumer is allowed a “cooling-off” period if the agreement was signed outside
the traders premises in which case the consumer may decide to cancel the agreement
- If buyer defaults in payment, seller can repossess the goods through a court order if
one-third of the purchase price has been paid.
- The following information is shown on the goods to enable the customer to decide if
he or she is able to hire the goods:
- The number and amount of instalments
- cash price of goods
- The hire purchase price of goods
- The rate of deposit
- The description of goods.

Sale of Goods Act

- The Sale of Goods Act is designed to protect buyers or consumers from sellers.
- The act provides for conditions to protect the consumer as follows:
- Goods sold by description should, in fact, be as described. For example, if the label on
the pack of the manufacturer describes fifty blue pens, it must surely contain that
number and colour of pens.
- Goods sold and bought by consumers should be fit for the purpose they are made for.
For example, a colour camera film should produce full colour photographs.

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 - Goods sold should be of merchantable quality. This simply means that the goods
should work well. For example, a new radio has to function properly and if it is faulty,
the buyer has to be compensated.

Weights and Measurements Act

- This Act provides protection for consumers by setting down standard measures and
weights that should be used by businesses.
- It requires that all weights and measures used by businesses should be tested and
stamped.
- Government inspectors make regular inspections to ensure that all scales are in line
with established standards.

Foods Standard Act

- Through this Act, suppliers of food like cafes, hotels, restaurants and food
manufacturers are obliged to prepare food to hygienic standards
- This Act makes it illegal for a food supplier to sell unhealthy and unhygienic food, to
label foods falsely or to use poor quality ingredients in food preparation.

Price Control Act

- The Price Control Act aims to control prices of goods, such as bread, milk and mealie
meal.
- Control of prices of basic goods is done to prevent overcharging.
- The Act also ensures that prices are clearly displayed , for example , the price per litre
of fuel should be displayed in filling stations

Public Health Act

- The ministry of health has effective measures on consumer protection.

- It prescribes hygiene standards on the processing, preparation and supply of food
stuffs to consumers.
- The hygiene standards are to be followed by staff employed in food industries, such
as bakeries, dairies, hotels and food manufacturers.

Dangerous Drugs Act

- The law has restrictions on the sale of drugs or medicines, which may be harmful to
people’s health.

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 - Suppliers of drugs are prohibited to sell unfit drugs to members of the public
- It is also an offense for drug suppliers to describe drugs falsely.
- Under this Act, all drugs that could be harmful to human life must only be obtained
through a doctor’s prescription.

Local authorities

- Local authorities are part of local government.

- They include municipal authorities with departments of health that issue by-laws to
compliment the Ministry of health and child welfare.
- The local authorities ensures that all business organisations keep high standards of
hygiene on their premises
- They also make sure that vendors and hawkers sell goods in the correct

The Code of advertising practice

- This code is enforced by the Advertising Media Association (ADMA) of Zimbabwe

- It establishes basic standards of advertising i.e. it establishes advertising standards.
- It ensures that advertisements are:
- Legal, that is, as required by law.
- Ethical, moral and not misleading, that is, making untrue claims about their
products.
- Decent
- Truthful or honest, that is, adverts should say he truth about products
- It guards against disparaging advertising, that is, producers should say
negative things about producer’s products.
- It ensures that there is a fair competition among producers.

Self-protection by consumers
Consumers are advised to take note of the following points in order to avoid
overspending and possibly being exploited by marketers.
- Prepare a shopping list and budget what to buy so as to avoid impulse buying
- Do some window-shopping in order to compare prices and quality of goods from
different shops before buying

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- Read and listen to the advertisements carefully so you can tell the difference between
truth and lies.
- Read and understand credit agreements before you sign them. For example, study the
terms and conditions of sale for hire- purchase and the credit sales agreements.
- Check if spare parts and after-sales services are available
- Carefully inspect goods for quality, expiry dates, faults, correct labels and
measurements before you buy.
- Check if spare parts and after-sales services are available.
- Know about, understand and exercise consumer rights and legislation.
- Get consumer education from the Consumer Council so that you can buy wisely.
- Check for the standards seal of approval
- Be careful not to have too many credit commitments.
- Always ask for a receipt or an invoice when you buy goods and services.

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