Il-prezz tal-ħobż reġa’ għola

Sur Editur,
Żgur li hawn ħafna li jixtru l-ħobż. Biss ma nafx kemm hawn min ittenda li l-prezz qiegħed jerġa’ jvarja. Jien nista’ nitkellem fuq id-ditta li nixtri l-ħobż mingħandha.

Il-prezz ma nbidilx, biss ittendejt li l-ħobża ċkienet. Minn 500 gramma saret bejn 400 u 450 gramma. Dan ifisser li l-prezz żdied mill-inqas b’10%, jew aħjar minn €1.40 l-kilo issa saret €1.55. Bis-suq liberalizzat din id-ditta għandha dritt tgħolli l-prezz. Biss il-konsumaturi għandhom dritt li jkunu jaf kemm hu l-prezz biex iqabbluh ma’ prezzijiet ta’ ħwienet oħ­rajn u jiddeċiedu mingħand min iridu jixtru.

Illum biex jagħmlu hekk il-konsumaturi għandhom bżonn calculator. Dan grazzi għall-Uffiċċju tal-Konsumaturi, fi ħdan l-MCCAA, għax dan, min­ħabba skużi, ma qabilx mal-Għaqda biex il-prezz ikun wie­ħed kull kilo biex il-konsumaturi jkunu jistgħu jqabbluh faċilment.

Dak li tlabna mhux ta’ barra minn hawn għax il-liġi stess titlob li l-prezz indikat għandu jkun wieħed li l-konsumaturi jku­nu jistgħu jqabbluh ma’ prez­zijiet oħrajn b’mod faċli. Bis-sistema tal-lum bil-kemm tkun taf kemm hu, aħseb u ara kemm se jirnexxielek tqabblu b’mod faċli! Fuq kollox illum lanqas biss tkun taf jekk il-prezz għoliex jew niżilx!

Dan qed iwassal biex il-konsumaturi ma jkunux jafu kemm qiegħda verament tinbiegħ il-ħobża għax qegħdin ikunu mċaħħdin din l-infor­mazz­joni b’mod sempliċi. Mhux ta’ b’xejn is-swieq f’Malta ma jaħdmux u l-konsumaturi jkollhom iħallsu l-ogħla prezzijiet mingħajr lanqas biss jittendu!

Published in Orizzont 15^th March 2012

Jum il-Konsumaturi

Ghal maggoranza tan-nies, jigi jew ma jigix Jum il-Konsumaturi, ma taghmilx l-ebda differenza. Dan kontra xi jiem ohra, bhal ma hu Jum l-Omm, Jum il-Missier jew San Valentino – Jum il-Mahbubin. Ir-raguni hi wahda semplici. Dan ghaliex filwaqt li dawn il-Jiem l-ohra huma kollha ibbazati fuq l-emozzjoni, Jum il-Konsumaturi ma jgib l-ebda emozzjoni.

Biss f’dan il-qasam, l-emozzjoni mal-ewwel tisplodi jekk tkun ghadek kemm xtrajt xi haga li kont ilek tixtieq u ssib li din ma tahdimx, jekk tkun ghadek kemm hallast somma flus sew biex jghamlulek il-bejt bil-membrane u mal-ewwel xita issib li bqajt fejn kont jew jekk tircievi xi kont ghal servizz tat-television li tkun ilek li qtajt snin.

U hawn jidhol Jum il-Konsumaturi ghaliex hamsin sena ilu il-President John F Kennedy waqt li kien qed jindirizza l-Kungress Amerikan kien l-ewwel statesman li gharaf xi drittijiet tal-konsumaturi. Dawn illum zviluppaw ghal tmien drittijiet – id-dritt ghal servizzi bazici, id-dritt ghal informazzjoni, ghall-kumpens, ghall-edukazzjoni, ghal sigurta fil-prodotti w servizzi li tixtri, ghall-ghazla, ghal raprezentanza, u d-dritt ghall-ambjent sahan.

Ir-raguni li l-emozzjoni tisplodi hi li bil-kliem kulhadd jaqbel ma dawn id-drittijiet izda fil-prattika hafna jsibu kull skuza biex icahdu dawn id-drittijiet lill-konsumaturi. Din is-sena l-Consumers International (CI), l-Ghaqda dinjija tal-Konsumaturi, iffukat fuq id-dritt tal-ghazla. Iffukat wkoll fuq is-servizzi finanzjarji. Tajjeb li nghid li din hi t-tieni sena li l-CI qed temfasizza s-servizzi finanzjarji. Dan ghaliex jidher li d-dinja ma taghlmet xejn mill-krizi finanzjarja li laqtet id-dinja ftit snin ilu. Ghalkemm waqt il-furur li kien hemm, kien hemm hafna kliem li hemm bzonn ta’ aktar regolamentazzjoni, baqa’ ma sar xejn.

Hafna min-nies jahsbu li ghaliex is-sistema bankarja Maltija ma ntlaqtitx bil-kbir, ma gralna xejn serju. Ghal hafna l-aqwa li l-profitti tal-banek regghu telghu bis-shih! Biss fil-hafna kliem li konna qrajna f’Malta dwar din is-sitwazzjoni, ftit kienu dawk li wkoll iffukaw fuq il-konsumaturi – l-investitur iz-zghir. S’issa ghandna ma nafux kif intlaqtu. Biss minn dak li jidher, kien hemm hafna li ntlaqtu u raw hafna minn dak li gemmghu b’sagrificju ghal hafna snin jizvinta fix-xejn. Mhux hekk biss, talli qiesu ma gara xejn. Lanqas biss nafu kemm flus tilfu l-Maltin f’din il-krizi.

Din mhux l-ewwel darba ghaliex ftit snin ilu kien hemm hafna Maltin li tilfu flushom wkoll fl-investiment li kienu ghamlu fl-Argentina. L-istess ma jidher li taghallimna xejn minn din il-krizi. L-istess bhal ta’ qabilha kwazi ma tkellem hadd.

Dan ma garax biss f’Malta ghaliex anki l-investituri Eworpej kienu ingidmu. Tajjeb li nsemmu dak li semmew il-Kummissarji tal-UE Barnier u Dalli. Il-Kummissarji Barnier beda l-messagg tieghu billi fakkar li ‘swieq finanzjarji qeghdin hemm ghas-servizz tac-cittadin u mhux bil-maqlub.’ Min-naha tieghu il-Kummissarju John Dalli semma kif f’dawn l-ahhar snin, minhabba li konsumaturi ma rcevewx informazzjoni u parir li jifthem u ghamlu investiment hazin u tilfu hafna minn dak li gemmghu. Iz-zewg Kummissarji semmew mizuri shah li hemm ippjanati sabiex jaraw li f’dan is-settur il-konsumaturi Ewropej jerga’ jkollhom fiducja fis-swieq finanzjarji. Ahna nittamaw li sew il-Kunsill tal-Ministri u sew il-Parlament Ewropew jkollhom il-kuragg u jwettqu dan il-programm ta’ riformi. Il-biza taghna hi li l-pressjoni li kapaci jghamlu l-banek u agenzi jifinanzjarji ohra tant tkun qawwijja li kollox jisfuma fix-xejn.

Dan iwassalni ghat-taghlima li suppost li taghallimna. Hemm bzonn ta’ aktar regolamenti effettivi biex dan is-setturjahdem tajjeb. Regolamenti effettivi ma xxekklux it-tkabbir ekonomiku bhal ma qed jippruvaw ibbellghuilna s-settur finanzjarju. Regolamenti effettivi ifissru li jkollna regolaturi li:

· jghidulna xi jkunu qed jaghmlu u jipubblikaw l-investigazzjonijiet li jkunu ghamlu. Dan ma jgibx tharbit fl-ekonomija izda aktar serjeta’ ghaliex kulhadd ikun jaf li kulhadd hu that il-lenti. Dan igib fiducja fis-sistema finanzjarja;

· jkunu sodi u kapaci jifqu lill-banek u jaqbzu ghall-konsumaturi filwaqt li jippromovu l-kompetizzjoni;

· jkunu proattivi u mal-ewwel jiehdu l-passi qabel ma l-affarijiet imorru ghal-aghar u jsiru problemi.

Dan ma jghoddx biss ghar-regolatur finanzjarju izda ghall-regolaturi l-ohra kollha. Jekk is-sena li ghaddiet ma kienetx ikaratterizzata minn xejn kienet xempju tal-falliment tar-regolaturi f’Malta. Jekk niehdu t-trasport pubbliku rajna lill-Transport Malta tibqa’ cassa filwaqt li fit-telekommunikazzjonijiet rajra sew lill-Awtorita’ Maltija tal-Kommunikazzjoni u l-Ufficcjutal-Konsumaturi fi hdan l-Awtorita’ gdida tal-Kompetizzjoni u Affarijiet tal-Konsumaturi jghidulna li filwaqt li l-operaturi jistghu ibiddlu l-kuntratti meta u kif iridu, il-konsumaturi huma marbutin sa l-inqas klawsola. Rajna wkoll lil dawn jibqghu cassi meta konsumaturi sabu ruhhom f’kuntratt gdid minghajr mal-konsumaturi talbu ghalih. Rajna wkoll il-falliment tal-MRA specjalment fil-qasam tal-gass – sitwazzjoni fejn il-ftugh tas-suq minflok beneficcji ghall-konsumaturi gabu ziediet fil-prezzijiet u incertezza fejn is-sitwazzjoni tista’ tisplodi minn mument ghal iehor u l-konsumaturi ma jsibux jixtru l-gass.

Hu minhabba dan li hemm il-Jum tal-Konsumaturi biex il-konsumaturi stess jarfu s-sitwazzjoni taghhom u jsemmghu lehinhom filwaqt li l-awtoritajiet jghamlu analizi u bi ftit rieda politika iqumu fuq taghhom biex iharsu d-drittijiet tal-konsumaturi.

Published in Orizzont 16^th March 2012.

WCRD – Financial Services revisited

Today is the World Consumer Rights Day which is celebrated by the consumer movement around the world. This year is special since it is 50 years since President John F Kennedy set out a vision of consumer rights and recognized consumers as a group. Since then the set of rights identified by President Kennedy formed the basis for the 8 consumer rights accepted today – the rights to basic needs, choose, information, education, redress, safety, be heard and healthy environment.

This year’s theme is again financial services. The reason is simple. After the debacle of the financial crisis some years ago, it seems that the lessons which were learned have now been forgotten. Consumers around the world are getting a bad deal from financial services. A lack of effective competition in the market makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to shop around.

For example, consumers often have trouble understanding different financial products, whether due to a lack of information or because the products themselves are too complex, or both.

Furthermore, changing to a different provider can be challenging, either because the switching process is prohibitively complicated, or simply because there are not enough financial institutions in the market competing to provide better deals.

This is also recognized by two EU Commissioners, Barnier and Dalli. The former in a statement said "Financial markets should be at the service of citizens, not the other way around. Europe must make financial services more fair and transparent for consumers everywhere in Europe”. Dalli on the other hand, recognized that “consumers are often overpaying for their basic financial services and do not always get effective redress they deserve. The European Commission has not been passive in the face of this.” In fact, there are a number of projects that will be launched in an attempt to improve the situation in the EU.

But what is the situation in Malta? Though the recent financial turmoil did not hit directly our banking system, thousands of small investors practically lost their life’s savings through the advice they got from ‘experts’ in the financial sector. It is a misfortune that we still lack data of the estimated amount Maltese investors lost through the financial turmoil and we are more disappointed that the banking system seems to be exerting its advertising muscle in the media to stifle any real discussion on this subject.

In a recent study by the European Commission covering all 27 EU countries, 8 out of 10 mystery shoppers encountered problems when switching financial providers. In Malta, none of the 10 mystery shoppers could successfully complete a switch. Mind you, the sample of banks selected was based on those brands with the highest share of bank accounts. This goes a long way to show the real deal Maltese consumers are getting from the financial sector. Above is a graph taken from the study* which encapsulates the situation in Malta.

I remember that, some years ago, soon after the introduction of the Common Principles on Banking Account Switching, I wrote an article where I made reference to my own experience. I had visited three branches of the three largest banks in Malta and I asked for information since I was aware that the Malta Bankers’ Association has prepared a leaflet on the subject. I found that none had the leaflet and none of the staff really knew about it. Even after some telephone calls only in one occasion was the bank able to provide me, with the press release. I also criticized the fact that the prepared leaflet was full of legal jargon and not understandable to the ‘average’ consumer. I also remember that I was criticized by some people for being too harsh. If anything, the above shows that the situation is still the same. It also shows that self-regulation is ineffective in Malta.

We sincerely hope that the World Consumers Rights Day will not be just another day. The Consumers Association will continue to press to have a regulator that:

• tells consumers what it does and publishes its investigations;
• is strong and stands up to the banks and for consumers and promotes competition;
• is proactive and acts on issues before they become problems.

*Report on “Consumer Market Study on the consumers’ experiences with bank account switching with reference to the Common Principles on Banking Account Switching” produced by GfK and published by the EU Commission which shows the situation on bank account transfers.

Article published in the Times of Malta 15^th March 2012