Some complaints received by the Consumer Council from the public have been labelled as false claims.

Chief Executive, Premila Kumar confirmed in many cases, consumers don’t fully provide information required for evidence against traders – when they’re clearly at fault.

Kumar says they received thousands of complaints annually and have to be cautious when dealing with some of them.

“They do not disclose all the information, they will only tell us what they want to tell us and they’ll try and hide the key information where in fact is the consumers fault. Say a particular gadget is not working and they want the item replaced but then it’s a user problem. We do have consumers who are not honest and they will only focus on their rights but not their responsibilities. And I think it’s time consumers should also realize that rights come with responsibilities.”

Kumar says consumers who files complaints have to be fair and know their rights come with responsibilities as well.

Meanwhile, the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission says they will continue to strictly monitor sales and stocks of businesses.

The Commission is advising businesses to comply.