A lack of “direct powers” of immediate and effective sanction by the now renamed Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission could impact negatively on the intention to provide a more generous measure of justice to consumers, the real intention behind the Consumer Affairs Act assented to in the National Assembly recently, according to a spokesman for the Guyana Consumers Association (GCA).
While the new legislation contains a number of measures designed to balance what the association says has traditionally been an uneven playing field that has long placed consumers at a disadvantage. Its spokesperson Clifford Zammett told Stabroek Business that the fact that the commission lacks “direct and immediate powers of effective sanction” could in effect result in protracted delays is the dispensation of justice to aggrieved consumers.
Under Part 111 of the enacted legislation titled “investigation of complaints” the commission is empowered to receive from “any person who claims to have been adversely affected in relation to the acquisition of
