Consumer Council received 832 complaint cases in H1 Cases of local citizens’ buying real estates in Mainland doubled

Real estate ranks the top of the 832 complaint cases received by Consumer Council in the first half of 2016, the total number of cases on real estate received is 105, which is 3.5 times more than the number of the same period of 2015 and over 70 percent of these involve local citizens purchasing properties in mainland China. Consumers are suggested to check clearly the status of the property and the regulations in the Mainland. Consumer Council received a total number of 3,322 cases in the first half of 2016, of which 832 are complaints, 2,464 inquiries, and 26 suggestions, involving over 80 million patacas. The number of complaints and inquiries have decreased by 6.2 percent and 7.2 percent respectively, comparing to the same period of last year, and the number of the overall cases received have decreased by 6.6 percent. The top five categories of complaints received in H1 are: real estate (105 cases), telecommunication equipment and supplies (102 cases), telecommunication services (79 cases), public transportation (49 cases), and food & beverages (48 cases). All these categories account for 46 percent of the total number of cases received. 80 complaints on local citizens buying real estate in the Mainland The number of complaints on real estates received in first half of 2016 involves about 36 million patacas, and is 3.5 times the number of cases received in the same period of 2015. 77 out of the 105 complaints involve local citizens purchasing real estates in mainland China, the Council succeeded in transferring these cases to consumer organizations in the Mainland through protocols signed with them. Consumer Council releases consumer alert Consumers are reminded to purchase finished estates with required sufficient documents to lower the risk involved, it is also suggested to ask a local lawyer to review on the contract terms and oversee the transaction process. The Council will continue to send out reminders through different channels to alert consumers about purchasing real estates in the Mainland. Increase in cases on mobile data charges and taxi services The number of complaints on telecommunication services received in the first half year has decreased by 25 percent comparing with data of the same period of 2015, 48 cases of which are about telecommunication services charges, and about 20 percent of the complaints involve mobile data charge. Telecommunication service providers are urged to make their fees and charges more transparent to avoid consumer dispute. Taxi services recorded 16 complaints in H1, which is an obvious increase when compared with the 10 cases received in the same period of 2015. Out of the 16 complaints, 12 of which are filed by tourists about overcharging and bad service, etc. Tourists’ complaints down by 10 percent Tourists’ complaints amounted to 370 cases in H1, which is about 10 percent of the total. The number of complaints received are 172, and is down 13.5 percent, comparing to the same period of 2015. A more detailed analysis of the number of cases received in the first half of 2016 can be found in Consumer Report published by the Council.