It has been nearly one year since the municipal elections were held in the Kingdom and various places filled. Although women were not allowed to participate in the elections, it is time we paid special attention to an issue of serious concern to women in the country: Consumer protection, which is one of the major responsibilities of municipal councils.
In countries where nongovernmental organizations are allowed to function, consumer protection societies work with municipal councils to help government departments protect the interests of consumers. Government agencies are not in a position to shoulder such responsibilities without the help of these legally existing institutions, who are often in direct contact with the consumers themselves.
There are some situations that are demonstrative of the immediate need for consumer protection in Saudi Arabia. For example, a customer buys a commodity or service and makes the required payment but soon discovers that they have not been served the way they wanted. It may also happen that after a woman has made a purchase from one place she finds that the same thing is available at a cheaper price at another place, but the shop would not take the thing back. Or on another occasion, a woman wants to return what she bought a couple of days earlier but the seller refuses to take it back and return the money.
There are also occasions when a car with some manufacturing defects causes an accident but the manufacturer does not compensate the victims. Such manufacturers are brought before the law everywhere in the world except in the Kingdom. Or one may buy a food product but is not in a position to ascertain the validity of the claims on the product’s label. Does a customer have any idea about the quality of the goods offered at our Two-Riyal shops? Despite what we often read in the media about scientific reports on serious health hazards caused by some particular commodities, including food products and cosmetic items, such commodities are widely available in our markets. Consumers in our country have no idea about the quality of the dairy products they consume, the eggs they eat and the water they drink. A passenger may be denied her or his right to travel without any compensation or even a word of apology after they had confirmed their Saudi Arabian Airline ticket and collected the boarding pass.
Each one of us, apparently, is a consumer, because a woman is buying a commodity or service to satisfy her family’s needs. She is the final loser mainly because of her lack of awareness of her rights on the one hand and her inability to uncover the seller’s fraud or cheating.
Therefore it is high time an effective mechanism was in place to improve consumers’ awareness and enhance their ability to uncover the fraudulent practices with full legal protection. This is precisely what the consumer protection groups are doing the world over. These nongovernmental organizations mostly monitor the performance of ministries that offer consumer services such as Health, Commerce and Air Transportation. They keep a constant watch on the consumer goods marketed, particularly by big companies with the objective that the products fulfill the international specification standards governing the rights of the consumers.
The International Consumer Organization was founded in 1960 to protect the interests of consumers the world over.
The following are the eight internationally recognized consumer rights.
1. The right to a healthy environment. This means the right to live and work in an environment that is not threatening to the wellbeing of the consumer.
2. The right to choose from a range of products and services.
3. The right to safety: To be protected against products and services, which are hazardous to health or life.
4. The right to be heard: To have consumer interests represented in the making of any decision regarding a product or service.
5. The right to have access to essential goods and services such as adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care and sanitation and education.
6. The right to redress: To receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy goods or unsatisfactory services.
7. The right to be informed: To be given facts needed to make an informed choice, and to be protected against dishonest or misleading advertising.
8. The right to consumer education: To acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed, confident choices about goods and services.
Educating the consumer is also vital in the sense that it transforms a society from a consumer state to a manufacturing state.
— Hatoon Ajwad Alfassi is a Saudi woman writer and historian.
