The Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA) in Singapore is a law that aims to protect consumers from unfair trade practices and ensure fair trading in the marketplace. The act provides for various consumer protection measures, including prohibiting false or misleading advertising, requiring clear and accurate labeling of products, and providing consumers with a right to a refund or replacement in certain circumstances. The CPFTA is enforced by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS).
CPFTA protects consumers from being misled by retailers through false or misleading claims, and the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice requires all advertisements to be truthful.
From SCAP Chapter II (“General Principles”), Clause 5 (“Truthful presentation”):
5.1 Advertisements should not mislead in any way by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise. more specifically, advertisements should not:
- Misrepresent any matter likely to influence consumers’ attitude to any product, advertiser, or promoter;
- Misrepresent any information to mislead consumers into believing any matter that is not true, such as the source of the product, quality of the product, obligation (or non-obligation) in using a trial product, and others;
- Mislead consumers about the price of goods or services;
- Underestimate the actual total price to be paid;
- Mislead consumers to overestimate the value or mislead consumers regarding the conditions on the terms of payment such as hire purchase, leasing, installment sales and credit sales; or
- Mislead consumers regarding the terms or guarantee, delivery, exchange, return, repair and maintenance; and mislead consumers regarding the extent of benefits for charitable causes.
5.2 If a presentation (such as a speech, documentary and newsreel) is substantially an advertisement, it should be clearly stated as an advertisement.
5.3 Claims
- Advertisements should not misuse research results or quotations from technical and scientific publications.
- Statistics should not be so presented so as to imply a greater validity that they really have.
- Scientific terms should not be misused; scientific jargon and irrelevancies should not be used to make claims appear to have any scientific basis which they do not possess.
I hope you enjoyed our post about consumer protection in Singapore. As a consumer, it is important to be aware of what your rights are in a situation where you are not happy with the product or service you have purchased. For additional information on your consumer rights and how to protect yourself as a consumer, please visit https://www.case.org.sg/consumer_guides_cpfta.aspx.
