Hire Purchase Act 2009 to Protect Consumers Against Unfair Trade Practices

ABSTRACTThe law of consumer credit, embodied in statutes, protects consumers and provides guidelines for the credit industry. The overall purpose of such consumer protection statutes are to protect consumers obtaining credit to finance their transactions, ensure that adequate credit is provided, and govern the credit industry in general. Uganda has not had a consumer credit protection law, and consumer protection generally has been regulated by general contract laws and common law principles. The new law, the hire purchase act, is the first attempt at legal protection of consumers who undertake the services of consumer credit from credit companies offering hire purchase services. However, hire purchase law. like other sill generic legislations addressing consumer credit protection, need to be alive to certain core principles of consumer credit protection. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of the hire purchase act of 2009 to protect consumers against unfair credit practices. The research was conducted in Uganda. as an analysis of the hire purchase legal regime. The study analyzed the Hire Purchase Act of 2009 to determine its potential to protect the consumer from unfair credit practices of the credit institutions. Further. the study' carried out a comparative jurisdictional analysis to determine ho hire purchase legislations have guaranteed consumer credit protection in other countries. The type of data collected for analyses and which was he the basis of this study was obtained from secondary sources. The study found there is need for clarity in the contract, so that the consumer, who is usually having less information, is protected Further, there is need for the two principles of recovery and re-negotiation to be taken into consideration in the law. Again, the author posits that the act should be further amended to guarantee the rights of the consumer further, to equitable provide for protection of the property, and to remove and delete unnecessary provisions and make the law more clear since clarity is an important component of hire purchase law.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION 
APPROVALDEDICATION LIST OF ACRONYMSSTATUTORY INSTRUMENTACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION BACKGROUNDSTATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM PURPOSE OF THE STUDY OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYSIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH STUDYRESEARCH METHODOLOGYData TypeData Source Method of StudyScope of the Research Study 

LITERATURE REVIEW SummaryConsumer Credit ProtectionHire Purchase The Hire Purchase AgreementHP in Uganda Conclusion: The GapCHAPTER BREAKDOWN 
CHAPTER TWO A STUDY OF THE HISTORY OF HIRE PURCHASE SUMMARY INTRODUCING HIRE PURCHASE: DEFINITIONHISTORY OF HIRE PURCHASE CHALLENGES FACING HIRE PURCHASECONCLUSION 

CHAPER THREEOBJECTS OF HIRE PURCHASE LAWCHAPTER SUMMARY STANDARD PROVISIONSThe Two Fundamental PrinciplesValidityThe Seller and the OwnerImplied Warranties And Conditions To Protect The Hirer The Hirer's RightsThe Hirer's ObligationsThe Owner's Rights

CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER SUMMARY HISTORY OF HP LAW IN UGANDAANALYSIS OF THE HIRE PURCHASE ACTPROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE HIRE PURCHASE ACT, 2007 

CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSCHAPTER SUMMARYSUMMARY OF FINDINGSFindings on Objective