LCQ16: Strengthening functions of Consumer Council
9.11.2022

Following is a question by the Hon Edward Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, in the Legislative Council today (November 9): Question: One of the functions of the Consumer Council (CC) is to handle consumer complaints in the capacity of a conciliator. There are views that, as the CC is not a law enforcement agency, it can only sanction traders with improper business practices by publicly naming them, or handle consumer complaints by way of conciliation, and the deterrent effect is limited. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) whether it knows the respective numbers of consumer complaint cases successfully and unsuccessfully conciliated by the CC in each of the past five years; among the cases unsuccessfully conciliated, the number and percentage of those involving failure of the parties selling goods or providing services to reply or co-operate, and how the CC followed up such cases; (2) given that from 2012 to the first quarter of 2022, the Consumer Legal Action Fund (the Fund), of which the CC is the trustee, received a total of 188 applications, but the Fund only provided assistance to 42 cases, whether it knows a breakdown of the number of applications to which assistance was not provided by the Fund by reason; and (3) as there are views that on account of the speed, cost-effectiveness and complexity of handling civil cases involving disputes between consumers and traders under the existing judicial system, members of the public are worried that it will be too difficult to succeed in litigation, which has deterred them from instituting litigation, whether the Government has considered elevating the statutory status of the CC, conferring on it law enforcement powers or the power to take the initiative to institute litigation on behalf of consumers, or setting up a relevant government organisation; if not, of the Government's plans to step up protection for consumers' rights and interests, and handle complaints against traders with improper business practices? Reply: President, Having consulted the Consumer Council (the Council), our consolidated reply to the three parts of the question is as follows: The Council endeavours to study and promote the protection of consumer rights and interests and carries out its statutory functions in accordance with the Consumer Council Ordinance (Cap. 216), which include receiving and examining complaints from and giving advice to consumers of goods and services. The Council received a total of 105 621 pursuable complaint cases in the past six years or so, from 2017 to 2022 (as at end October) (some complaints received were not pursuable for reasons such as the complainant was not able to provide the required information or documents). The number of resolved cases, unresolved cases and cases in progress (by year) was as follows: Year 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (as at end October) Number of pursuable cases 16 991 16 762 15 108 21 580 18 185 16 995 Number of resolved cases 12 330 11 215 9 212 14 361 11 608 8 590 Number of unresolved cases 4 661 5 547 5 896 7 216 6 533 4 282 Number of cases in progress 0 0 0 3 44 4 123 Among the unresolved cases, the number of cases that traders under complaint refused to reply or co-operate (by year) was as follows: Year 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (as at end October) Number of cases that traders under complaint refused to reply or co-operate [Percentage of the total number of unresolved cases] 343 [7%] 396 [7%] 825 [14%] 800 [11%] 798 [12%] 390 [9%] If a trader refuses to reply or co-operate, the Council will, subject to the nature of the case, advise the consumer to consider taking legal action to resolve the dispute, such as filing a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal. For cases in which criminal offences may be involved, subject to the consent of the complainant, the Council will refer the case to the relevant law enforcement agencies. In addition, the Council is the trustee of the Consumer Legal Action Fund (the Fund), of which the objective is to provide legal assistance to consumers in cases involving significant public interest. The Board of Administrators of the Fund is responsible for the overall administration of the Fund which includes vetting applications. From 2012 to 2022 (as at end October), the Fund received and handled 230 applications, of which 64 were granted assistance, 29 were resolved during the application process and 137 were declined. In considering the applications to the Fund, the major factors for consideration include whether significant consumer interest or injustice are involved, the number of consumers affected, the chance of success in litigation, and whether there would be deterrent effect on unscrupulous business practices. The Fund does not maintain the statistics and respective breakdown of the reasons for declining the applications. Currently, various laws in Hong Kong protect consumers' rights and interests. Among them, under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) which covers goods and services, unfair trade practices that are prohibited include false trade descriptions, misleading omissions, aggressive commercial practices, bait advertising, bait-and-switch and wrongly accepting payment, which are applicable to the trade practices of both physical and online traders. For work related to consumer protection, the Customs and Excise Department and the Communications Authority (being the law enforcement agencies of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance) and the Council have different responsibilities. Law enforcement agencies are empowered to conduct criminal investigations and prosecutions against unfair trade practices and, at the same time, promote compliance and conduct public education to raise the awareness of traders of complying with the ordinance and that of consumers of smart spending, while the Council strives to help consumers protect their rights and interests and resolve disputes between consumers and traders through mutually acceptable agreements. The Council is committed to discharging the above functions, and the Government has no plan to expand the Council's statutory functions at present. The Government will continue to keep a close watch on relevant complaint and enforcement statistics and review the trend of unfair trade practices, so as to formulate appropriate strategies in protecting consumers' rights and interests.