Section 12 — CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1999

(a)

if he gives to a consumer an indication which is misleading as to the price at which any goods or services are available; or

(b)

if an indication given by him to a consumer as to the price at which any goods or services are available becomes misleading and he fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the consumer from relying on the indication.

(2)

For the purposes of subsection (1), it shall be immaterial—

(a)

whether the person who gives the indication is acting on his own behalf or on behalf of another;

(b)

whether or not the person who gives the indication is the person or included among the persons from whom the goods or services are available;

(c)

whether the indication is or becomes misleading in relation to all the consumers to whom it is given or only in relation to some of them.

(3)

For the purposes of this section, an indication given to a consumer is misleading as to a price or a method of determining a price if what is conveyed by the indication, or what the consumer may reasonably be expected to infer from the indication or any omission from it, includes any of the following:

(a)

that the price or method is not what in fact it is;

(b)

that the applicability of the price or method does not depend on facts or circumstances on which it does in fact depend;

WJW21/1045 Act 599.indd 25 18/03/2022 6:42 PM

26

Act 599

(c)

that the price covers or the method takes into account matters in respect of which an additional charge is in fact made;

(d)

that a person who in fact has no such expectation, expects—

(i)

the price to be increased or reduced, whether or not at a particular time or by a particular amount;

(ii)

the price, or the price as increased or reduced, as the case may be, to be maintained, whether or not for a particular period;

(iii)

the method to be altered, whether or not at a particular time or in a particular respect; or

(iv)

the method or the method as altered, as the case may be, to remain unaltered, whether or not for a particular period;

(e)

that the facts or circumstances by reference to which the consumer may reasonably be expected to judge the validity of any relevant comparison made or implied by the indication are not what they in fact are.

(4)

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(e), a comparison is a relevant comparison in relation to a price or a method of determining a price, as the case may be, if the comparison is made between that price or method or any price which has been or may be determined by that method, and—

(a)

any price or value that is stated or implied to be or to have been or to be likely to be attributed or attributable to the goods or services in question, or to any other goods or services; or

(b)

any method or other method that is stated or implied to be or to have been or to be likely to be applied or applicable for the determination of the price or value of the goods or services in question, or of the price or value of any other goods or services.

WJW21/1045 Act 599.indd 26 18/03/2022 6:42 PM

Consumer Protection 27

Bait advertising