Sorry but "Yes He Should" , as a full Member. We should be responsible for following and knowing the rules already because we are already part of the Forum's community since when we registered and we must be improving the Forum by now.
When a Newbie account was created, the user is already responsible for following the rules (and Merit system is included to it) as he/she will contribute to the Forum. But why did you disagree to the point that the OP should've already knew how Merits System Works?
Just clarifying my side