2 October 2024
Bill no. 72 (Option consommateurs' comments)
Option consommateurs warmly welcomes Bill 72, An Act to protect consumers against abusive commercial practices and to provide greater price and credit transparency.
In our opinion, this bill contains many positive advances for Quebec consumers. It tackles major irritants that have arisen since the pandemic, such as the display of prices in grocery stores and the solicitation of tips.
It closes loopholes in the consumer protection net, notably with regard to door-to-door sales and credit.
In our view, this bill will make a difference to Quebecers' pocketbooks, and demonstrates a clear commitment to consumer protection.
However, we feel that some of its provisions need to be revised to truly achieve their objectives.
Our recommendations are essentially aimed at strengthening the protection of Quebec consumers against the current wave of bank fraud, better informing them of the price of food in grocery stores, and ensuring that merchants respect their free choice of whether or not to leave a tip.
Finally, we would like to comment on restaurant owners' requests to be able to penalize non-honored reservations.
See also...
Significant progress in consumer rights
The recent adoption of Bill 72, which will increase consumer protection against unscrupulous travelling salespeople, abusive lenders and merchants with dubious sales strategies, is very good news for Quebec consumers.