Bills of exchange - Consumers' Association's point of view

The Consumers' Association issued the following press statement criticising Bill No. 27, which has been tabled in Parliament:

When a bill of exchange is used in a trade transaction, the consumer's rights are heavily restricted by the mere fact that, in cases where the consumer is justifiably dissatisfied with the product, the consumer must continue paying the third party, usually a bank. Such situations often occur when a consumer buys a car. The problem is compounded by the fact that a particular firm is using legal tactics aimed at disheartening consumers in their efforts to fight for their rights.

The association is preoccupied by a particular clause which further weakens the consumer's weak position when a bill of exchange is used in a bank-to-customer transaction. In fact, we put forward proposals to bring about a balance between the three parties involved - the financial institutions (generally the banks), the trader and the consumer.

Unfortunately the Bankers' Association was against our proposals to ensure a link between consumers' rights in such transactions and the credit requested. This is an important principle in the European Union, so we wrote to the minister concerned to show our preoccupation.

In fact, it was a hot issue when the government discussed the introduction of a legal notice to regulate consumer credit. During those discussions our position was that we would not object to the use of bills of exchange in trade transactions as long as consumers' interests were safeguarded. However Bill 27 will weaken the consumers' ability to protect their rights. (Benny Borg Bonello, president, Consumers' Association)