WHY IS THE SERVICE OF A 'CONSUMER PROTECTION' AGENCY NEEDED?

QUESTION:
Given that we operate in a free-market economy, in which consumers are free to pick, choose and refuse, why is the service of a 'consumer protection,' government agency such as the Consumer Affairs Commission, needed?

ANSWER:
The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) is a public agency established to inform, educate and empower consumers to protect themselves in the marketplace.

The CAC exists to provide a balance on behalf of the consumer in the market economy. While the market economy can succeed in delivering goods and services, often in abundance, to those who can afford them, it lacks mechanisms and incentives to meet the basic needs of people who cannot. The CAC attends to these failures by sharpening consumers' skills, providing them with information to meet these needs.

The CAC would have succeeded in its work when the Consumers of Jamaica can be described as knowledgeable about the market-place and its mechanisms, are vigilant about what takes place in it and assert themselves to ensure that their rights are upheld.

It provides information to consumers and deals with complaints which consumers lodge with it against either Business or Government entities.