There are many manufactured products on the market. And without regulation, it’s easy for companies to ignore the rights and needs of those who purchase and use the products (consumers). For this reason, the government established a law relating to competition and consumer protection.

Among other things, article 7 of this law prohibits asking a consumer to accept obligations which are different from what has been purchased, or different from commercial usage of the product.

When someone buys a product, they have the right to information on its characteristics relating to intended use. According to article 33 of the law, the information should be passed on no later than the conclusion of a sale.

Article 35 of the law obliges all traders to display prices to consumers. The prices must be in Rwandan Francs, written with Arabic numerals, and legible.

In advertising, article 38 of the law prohibits encouragement of risky behaviour which is dangerous for the health or safety of a person. Article 39 of the law allows competing companies to carry out comparative advertising as long as it is not misleading to the consumer. Additionally, only goods or services which meet the same needs or serve the same purpose can be comparatively advertised. The advertising must be objective.

If a product does not conform to the sale contract, article 42 of law relating to competition and consumer protection grants a consumer the right to ask for conformity, or to have the product repaired, replaced free of charge, or have a reduction in the price.

It is illegal to sell goods which do not comply with safety standards, goods which are deemed unsafe by regulations and those which have been banned. This is according to article 47 of law relating to competition and consumer protection.

If the unsafe goods are already on the market, article 49 of the law says that the government shall take measures to protect the consumer, such as removing the goods from the market, providing information on the goods to all people, repairing the goods if possible, substituting the goods, paying the price for the goods, reducing the price, and taking civil action.

Article 50 of the law relating to competition and consumer protection says that consumers have the right to take legal action if they suffer damages resulting from violations to the law.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com