Draft to ban door-to-door sales
Akita Pref. ordinance aims to stop unscrupulous people tricking elderly
By Etsuo Hayakawa and Hideharu Tabuchi
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
(Jun. 3, 2008)
The outline of a draft ordinance to ban door-to-door sales has been drawn up by members of the Akita Prefectural Assembly, but this has some people up in arms as they believe such a measure would dampen business activity.
The envisioned ordinance is designed to prevent elderly people from being tricked into buying expensive and high-risk financial instruments from unscrupulous salespeople without understanding the details.
In February, eight prefectural assembly members drafted an outline of the ordinance to ban salespeople from making uninvited visits to homes, effectively meaning they could not do so without prior arrangement.
The proposed ordinance will ban all salespeople from visiting, faxing, telephoning and e-mailing those aged 65 or older as well as minors.
However, anyone regardless of age can stop visits and telephone calls from salespeople selling products requiring consumers to pay 5,000 yen or more in monthly installments by registering with the prefectural government, according to the draft ordinance.
Prison terms, fines considered
Salespeople who violate the ordinance may face suspension of business, imprisonment for up to two years or a fine up to 1 million yen.
Abridged
SOURCE: YomiuriCo
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