Let’s face it, despite the fact that we’re all excited to be amongst the most protected consumers in the world, no-one really wants to read a hundred-and-something page Act to find out all the details. With this in mind, we’ve put together a series of short news snippets which will help you to get to grips with the nitty-gritty details of the new Consumer Protection Act and understand how they affect your life. These tips will be handy to refer back to once the Act has been fully implemented in October 2010.
Overview and Chapter One
Question of the Week
The first question that most people ask is “Why has the Consumer Protection Act been introduced?” The succinct answer is to promote and advance the economic and social welfare of consumers and to ensure that they are better protected and empowered to realise their rights. To find out more, read our “Policy Objectives of the Consumer Protection Bill” post. (We will come back to this in a later post).
Chapter One
- Part A provides some useful definitions which you should keep in mind to refer back to when reading a particular section of the Act. It also explains how the Act should be interpreted.
- Part B explains the purpose, policy and application of the Act. Basically this covers:
- The ways in which the Act will protect consumers.
- How consumers can realise these rights and how the appropriate court or tribunal must respond.
- What the Act does and does not apply to.
- Requirements of franchise agreements.
Interesting Fact for the Week
A franchisee may cancel a franchise agreement without cost or penalty within 10 business days after signing such agreement, by giving written notice to the franchisor.
Click here for the next post in this series.
