The recent controversy over the actual quality of Kera vegetable candy as advertised by some "hot" KOLs continues to show that protecting consumer rights is still a big challenge.
The mechanism of collective lawsuits, whereby individuals and organizations whose rights have been violated jointly file a lawsuit against the violating party in court through civil means, should be considered for implementation in practice.
Doing this will provide an additional effective measure to protect consumers as well as the interests of manufacturers and advertisers.
After the noise about "Kera vegetable candy" calmed down, did those who spent money on this product receive anything more than an apology from a celebrity on social media?
From the perspective of the business - the unit that produces the product, as well as from the perspective of the celebrity advertising the product - if their product is of real quality, do they have a fair chance to protect their product amidst the wrath of the online community?
Current Vietnamese law allows buyers of Kera products to sue the manufacturer or advertiser in court to protect their rights. But if we put the costs and benefits on the table, would an individual have the motivation to do so?
Because a pack of candy they bought costs 400,000 - 500,000 VND; even if they win the lawsuit and prove the damage, will the compensation they receive be able to offset the litigation costs and the time spent doing so?
The benefits are so small compared to the costs that in reality, very few individual consumers choose to litigate in the above cases.
It is also necessary to "open parenthesis" a bit, in the practice of law enforcement in Vietnam, administrative fines are the main official mechanism to handle situations like the above. However, there are two reasons why the administrative mechanism is not effective.
Firstly , the administrative fine is not high, for example, the fine for false advertising is only under 100 million VND. Meanwhile, press reports show that the value of goods sold from Kera candy is several billion VND.
Second, while the resources (human, material, technical) of state administrative agencies are very limited, how can these agencies be able to handle the countless incidents occurring in economic and social life?
To address this issue, in many countries, the class action mechanism is widely used as a more effective way to resolve collective disputes. When one party causes damage to many individuals or organizations at the same time; the injured party can jointly file a lawsuit.
Plaintiffs may choose their own representative, who shall also represent all parties whose interests have been infringed.
To make it easier to imagine, thousands of Kera candy buyers... will have a representative to protect their common interests. The Vietnam Consumer Protection Association could be a good "candidate" to represent the interests of the plaintiffs.
Collective disputes will arise more and more, especially in the fields of trade, consumption and environment. Civil disputes must be resolved through the courts - that is the most civilized and effective way to protect the interests of all parties.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ung-xu-van-minh-de-cac-ben-deu-co-loi-20250312085542288.htm
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