We all have right which are not always respected. Do you know your right? Do you know what you can do when they are not respected, or usurped or abused? In the case you don't know read on.

A tiff with Melita Cable

A few days ago, a person from Melita Cable phoned me. I was informed that Melita has to switch over its subscribers to digital TV, as Malta will be doing this exercise by the end of this year. The phone call was meant to make the necessary arrangements so that I would fall in line.

Melita Cable were a bit unlucky. I informed their representative that I am a member of the Digital Switchover Committee set up by Government and that it was not true that Malta would be going digital this year.

Malta will be going digital end December 2010.

I then asked whether Melita were telling me that I had to change to digital now. The tone of the voice changed completely. I was informed that they were offering the possibility nor obliging me to use it.

This was not the first time that Melita employees used this stratagem on its subscribers. A few months ago they phoned me three or four times saying that "minhabba l-Ewropa" Malta has to go digital and that I had to do it within a particular time. This timeframe was always different from the national timeframe for going digital.

I know of a number of people who received such phone calls. Melita is a private company and can decide to stop its analogue service tomorrow if they wish. That would be their business decision. However they cannot do so on the basis of giving mistaken information to their subscribers.

I reported the incident to the Malta Communications Authority who wrote and talked to Melita. The cable company is now saying that it is investigating the matter and that a circular will be sent to their employees to make sure that no false information is given out. It seems that the Melita management want us to believe that it did now know what was happening around it these last few months! They want us to believe that their employees on their own free will decided to start dishing out wrong information to force subscribers to go digital. I doubt whether anyone will believe this version of events.

I am sure that people who changed to digital because the employees of Melita presented the changeover as inevitable. They must have uttered a couple of swear words against Europe and against this government and then assented to Melita's imposition.

Many people do not know that they have rights and that the MCA is there to defend them.

The media can be checked too

Many people today know their rights as consumers. This is mainly thanks to the consumers associations, consumer department and the media which do give a lot of prominence to such work mainly through phone-in programmes on radio. However we have other rights as well.

Most people do not know that they also have rights when it comes to media content and that the Broadcasting Authority is there to defend them. In fact, the Authority can take action against offending material even if no one protests.

Most people do not know that they have rights that journalists are bound to respect and that the Malta Institute of Journalists set up a Press Complaints Commission to investigate complaints of abuse. Unfortunately, this Commission cannot move of its own accord but has to receive a complaint to take action. This is an unwelcome limitation of the Commission's potential service to the public - when and if the public knows about its existence.

You can be protected from professionals

Most people do not know that they have rights also when they are visiting a doctor, being attended to by a nurse, calling on a physiotherapist, going to the dentist etc. The medical and caring professions are governed by semi-judicial councils which can discipline erring members of the profession. In extreme cases such professionals can be struck from the relevant registers.

There is the Medical Council, the Council for Nurses and Midwives, and the Council for the Professions Complementary to Medicine. It is a great pity that these and other councils do not make themselves and their work well known to the community.

I have served on the Medical Council for a number of years. The number of complaints received are relatively few especially when one considers that the Council regulates both doctors and dentists. Besides, when an inquiry was initiated it took a very long time to conclude.

It sometimes took years to initiate the inquiry and years to conclude. There were instances where cases were decided by the Council but the president judge took years to write the sentence. This lethargy and procrastination make life more difficult for those who feel they should complain. Besides, they are a travesty of justice.

How can you defend you interests if you feel aggrieved by the unprofessional conduct of an accountant, an architect, a lawyer, a psychologist, and other professionals? I am sure there must be some form of regulatory councils also for the other professions. I guess but I don't know for sure. I imagine that most people do not know either.

Know your defenders

I am certain that every reader can share positive and negative experiences when dealing with corporations, companies, professionals, businesspersons, journalists etc. Many people do nothing but grumble when they are treated badly. It is true that on many occasions getting a remedy would not be worth one's hassle. On other occasions, remedies are practical and possible.

It is in the interest of the Authorities, Councils and entities mentioned above to advertise the services they offer. It is also within the interest of each one of us to do the extra effort to get to know our defenders and use their services.