Please Pass Cooling-off Law, Says Consumer Council

The chief executive of the Consumer Council, Gilly Wong, is asking lawmakers to support the government's proposal to introduce a mandatory cooling-off period for buying packages for gyms and beauty parlours.

The plan would require such companies to refund consumers who've made pre-payments of over HK$3,000 if they change their mind within a certain period.

However the plan doesn't cover online transactions or timeshare sales, and critics say it won't give enough protection for consumers.

But Wong says the consumer council's been pushing for the measure for years, and it's time to take a step forward: "This is hope every day that the bill can be passed in the current administration; the reason being that if we cannot meet the time it has to start all over again.

"So we have been waiting for five years starting from 2012... maybe even earlier than that. Now it's 2019, we're talking about 10 years, we really want to have it in the current administration."

She added that more unfair trade practices could be regulated in future once this piece of legislation is passed.