THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) says the government should enact laws that promote consumer rights and protect them from unscrupulous business practices that rob them their hard-earned cash.
IVAN NDLOVU OWN CORRESPONDENT
CCZ executive director Rosemary Siyachitema told a workshop in Gweru on Wednesday that the government should adopt the Consumer Protection Bill to preserve universally accepted rights which consumers are entitled to.
“Most consumers do not know what their rights are, so they are easily cheated by service providers. We have advocated for its implementation for the past six years, so it is high time the government adopted this Bill into law” Siyachitema said.
She added that there was also urgent need for the government to help in the implementation of basic consumer rights by encouraging businesses to have customer-friendly policies, pointing out that in some cases, the safety of consumers was compromised as there was no law to protect them from electronic transaction scams.
“The safety of consumers’ money over the Internet is questionable because there is no clear legal route they could take when they are duped online” she added.
The workshop was hosted as a consultation on Consumer Protection Bill, under which, a Consumer Protection Commission should be established by the government to co-ordinate outreach campaigns.
Objectives of CCZ are to protect consumers through awareness and help maintain manufacturing standards and settling disputes between clients and suppliers.
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