Responsibility of the Consumer

Consumer Rights go hand in hand with Responsibilities. Consumer protection is not the responsibility of only the Authority or businesses. Consumer protection starts with You, the Consumer.

Along with exercising your Rights as a consumer, you have certain Responsibilities as follows:

Responsibility to Speak Up: A Consumer has a responsibility to exercise their right to be heard by businesses. It is your responsibility as a consumer to express your dissatisfaction or lodge a complaint to a business about goods or services you are supplied with. After lodging your complaint, you are also responsible to cooperate with the business and provide what is requested of you to resolve the complaint. Form A (Complaint Form) in the Consumer Protection Regulations of 2019, stipulates that when you lodge a complaint with the Authority, you have to “indicate the steps that you have taken to resolve the complaint with the management of the business.”

Responsibility to Safeguard Proof of Purchase: It is your responsibility as a consumer to safeguard receipts as proof of purchase. Often consumers lodge complaints and expect them to be resolved while they have no proof of purchase.

Responsibility to Demand Information on Goods and Services: The Consumer Protection Act clearly stipulates that accurate, clear and complete information must be provided on goods and services. It is your responsibility as a consumer to demand that prices be displayed in Pula currency, and that goods be clearly labelled. The Competition and Consumer Authority from time to time conducts business inspections to ensure compliance with such provisions. However, with only two offices in Gaborone and Francistown, the Authority’s eyes and ears cannot be everywhere across the country, and the responsibility also lies with consumers to inform suppliers who do not display prices that they are violating the law, and to report them to the Authority.

Responsibility to be Informed About the Quality of Goods and Services: It is your responsibility to be an informed and responsible consumer and take an active role in protecting your rights. As a Consumer, you have a responsibility to inform yourself about the quality and the safety of goods and services before buying them. Do not buy for the sake of buying, or because a product or service is on sale with a reduced price.

Responsibility to Familiarise Yourself with the Consumer Protection Act: To claim and enjoy their rights, consumers must familiarise themselves with the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.  Most consumers ignore, or do not know about their rights.  The CCA continues to undertake initiatives aimed at making consumers aware of their rights under the law. But it takes a keen and interested consumer to take concrete steps to empower themselves, and to play an active role in safeguarding their rights.

An empowered consumer who knows his or her rights cannot be easily cheated in the marketplace.