THE Ministry of Tourism plans to up the ante against unfair outcomes for consumers who falter on their hire purchase payments.Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Tourism Minister Cathy Hughes said the Hire Purchase legislation being crafted will be examined, possibly refined and brought to the House for approval.
Under the current system, a defaulting consumer stands to lose an item bought on hire purchase even if he/she would have paid 80 per cent of the cost of the item.

“We want to up the ante so to speak because we recognised that in many areas, the consumers are at the losing end. The manufacturing warrantees that would be given for that same piece of equipment in a US context are not the same in a Guyana context. These are the things we recognised and consumers have to get more protection,” Minister Hughes said.
Though consumerism does not fall under the Ministry of Business, it has a direct bearing on the operations of business.
Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin said he cannot sit back and ignore the current hire purchase system since it does affect business.
“If you are going to repossess the vehicle and I paid 80 per cent of the cost of the vehicle, then you have to give me back my 80 per cent, the very least, it cannot be right, it cries out for stronger legislation,” Minister Gaskin told the Guyana Chronicle.
PURCHASE
Persons utilise hire purchase mainly to buy an item which they do not have enough money to pay for at once.
While practically every adult has a bank account, a lot of them do not have access to the banking system through which they can finance some of their purchases.
As such, Minister Gaskin observed that they are forced to make purchases on unfavourable financial arrangements with some unscrupulous businesses.
The current hire purchase system, he said, should not be allowed to continue.
The unfair dealing of the current system has been long recognised as disadvantageous to consumers, but the response to address this problem has been slow.
The former Administration had begun work on crafting legislation to protect consumers from the mercy of the hire purchase scheme.

The flaw in the current hire purchase system received much attention around mid-year last year when the mining industry was beginning to feel the squeeze from the steep drop in gold prices.
Miners at the time expressed grave concerns over losing their equipment obtained via hire purchase although they had made substantial payments to clear the cost of the item.
A large number of Guyanese utilise the hire purchase facility. The arrangement is used primarily in the purchase of automobiles, household appliances and furniture.
The purchaser can only claim ownership of their goods after they clear payment for the total value of the items.

By Tajeram Mohabir