Traders to face jail for misleading consumers

TRADERS who cheat consumers will face jail terms of up to two years and fines of up to €100,000 under the Consumer Protection Bill.

The legislation will ban a range of “anti-consumer” activities, including pyramid schemes, prize-draw scams and persistent cold-calling.

The goal of the bill is to provide consumers “with the highest level of protection” in their dealings with business, Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin said at its launch.

The bill will formally establish the National Consumer Agency (NCA), tasked with protecting consumers.

The NCA will take over the existing Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, and be far more powerful. It will have the power to issue compliance notices and impose on-the-spot fines on errant traders.

It will also regularly publish lists of businesses which have faced enforcement action.

“The adverse publicity of a name-and-shame policy can often be a more effective deterrent than a court-imposed fine and this bill leaves offenders no hiding place in that respect,” Mr Martin said.

However, the NCA will initiate court proceedings in more serious cases.

In the case of summary convictions (not involving a jury), the bill proposes a maximum fine of €3,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both, for a first offence.

A maximum fine of €5,000 and/or 12 months’ imprisonment is envisaged for second or subsequent offences.

In the case of convictions on indictment (with a jury), the bill proposes a maximum fine of €60,000 and/or 18 months’ imprisonment for a first offence, rising to a maximum of €100,000 and/or 24 months for second or subsequent offences.

Under the bill, a wide range of activities will be made illegal, including:

*Making false or misleading claims about a product.

*Persistent, unwanted calling of consumers.

*Operating prize competitions that require the consumer to make a payment or incur a loss before a prize can be claimed.

*Claiming that a product can cure an illness or malformation, when it cannot.

The bill will also ban certain types of advertising aimed at children.

Mr Martin said the NCA would give consumers a very strong voice. But he also said there was a need for consumers themselves to become “more assertive” and demand that traders respect their legal rights.

The legislation will now go before the Oireachtas, and the minister said he hoped it would be enacted before the Dáil recess at Easter.

He also said the NCA would, as planned, decentralise to Cork within the next 12 to 18 months.