CAIRO: Drive down any major road and you're sure to see a barrage of billboards advertising real estate developments around the country, but the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) recently sent a word of caution to consumers: Beware of false advertising. A statement issued by the CPA advised potential homebuyers to visit the construction site to make sure that the project advertised is actually being developed. Some projects being advertised don't even exist, others use computer-manipulated images or pictures of other developments outside Egypt to lure consumers. We have an advertising committee comprised of specialized experts that follow up on published advertisements to uncover cases of misleading advertising, CPA Chairman Saeed El-Alfy told Daily News Egypt According to Article 2 of the Consumer Protection Law, consumers have the right to sue advertisers or producers if they receive incomplete or false information about a product or service. At the same time, Article 6 obliges advertisers to give correct and complete information so as not to mislead consumers. When we discover a misleading advertisement we publish the company s name in newspapers and warn consumers against dealing with it. Then we direct the case to the prosecution, El-Alfy said. This has proven to be an effective system in these cases as it damages the company's brand and its credibility, he added. The statement said that the specialized committees preliminary reports found that a large percentage of misleading and false advertisements are those of real estate projects. Real estate investment companies must commit to the rules and standards of advertising and not deceive consumers because the consumer protection law criminalizes that, El-Alfy said, assuring that the CPA will take legal action against any entity that violates the law. The CPA, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, was established by Law 67/2006 with the aim of protecting consumers and defending their rights. The CPA has received 7,780 complaints since it started operating in November 2006, 6,607 of which were resolved. In the first five days of August last year, the number of complaints reached a record of 96. The agency receives complaints from citizens through its hotline (19588), by fax (02 3538 0384), email or through their website.
