International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN)

The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) is an organization composed of consumer protection authorities from almost 40 countries, whose aim is to:

• Protect consumers’ economic interests around the world,
• Share information about cross-border commercial activities that may affect consumer welfare,
• Encourage global cooperation among law enforcement agencies.

General (international)

• Consumers International: A worldwide non-profit federation of consumer organizations, dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumer interests.
• BEUC - The European Consumers' Organisation
• International Chamber of Commerce (ICCWBO): A world business organization of companies and associations from 130 countries formed to promote international trade, investment and the market economy system worldwide.
• OECD Consumer Policy Committee (CPC): The focal point within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for consumer issues is its Consumer Policy Committee.
• OECD Committee for Information Computer and Communications Policy
• Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD): A forum of US and EU consumer organisations which develops joint consumer policy recommendations to the US government and European Union to promote consumer interests.
• European Commission’s Directorate for Health and Consumer Affairs
• European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net): An EU-wide network designed to promote consumer confidence by advising citizens on their rights as consumers and providing easy access to redress, particularly in cases where the consumer has made a cross-border purchase
• FIN-NET is a financial dispute resolution network of national out-of-court complaint schemes in the European Economic Area countries (the European Union Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) that are responsible for handling disputes between consumers and financial services providers, i.e. banks, insurance companies, investment firms and others

General (national)

• National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG): The association for state attorneys general in the U.S., whose responsibilities typically include consumer protection law enforcement.

Telemarketing and Internet fraud:

• PhoneBusters: established in January 1993, PhoneBusters is the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre managed on a tripartite basis by the Ontario Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Competition Bureau Canada. PhoneBusters plays a key role in educating the public about specific fraudulent telemarketing pitches. The call centre also plays a vital role in the collection and dissemination of victim evidence, statistics, documentation and tape recordings which are made available to outside law enforcement agencies. The original mandate of PhoneBusters was to prosecute key individuals in Ontario and Quebec involved in telemarketing fraud under the Criminal Code of Canada. Its mandate now also includes facilitating prosecution by United States agencies through extradition, and by the Competition Bureau under the Competition Act. PhoneBusters is the central agency in Canada that collects information on telemarketing, advanced fee fraud letters (Nigerian letters) and identity theft complaints. The information is disseminated to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. The data collected at PhoneBusters is a valuable tool in evaluating the effects of various types of fraud on the public. It also helps to prevent future similar crimes from taking place.
• National Fraud Information Center (NFIC): A project of the U.S.-based National Consumers League, a private non-profit organization, which provides consumer information regarding telemarketing and Internet fraud and maintains a complaint database.
• Better Business Bureaus (BBB): A web site provided by the Council of Better Business Bureaus for the U.S. and Canada, containing business and consumer alerts and permitting the filing of online complaints.

E-commerce:

• Global Business Dialogue on electronic commerce (GBDe) is a worldwide, CEO-led, business initiative, established in January 1999 to assist the development of a global policy framework for the emerging online economy.
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Electronic Commerce Steering Group (APEC): A cooperative governmental effort to facilitate the growth and development of electronic commerce.
• Electronic Commerce Research Center: The Electronic Commerce Research Center is part of the Information Technology Research Institute at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and offers research, training and consulting in issues related to electronic commerce.
• eLab:  Vanderbilt University's eLab is a pioneering academic research center dedicated to the study of human behavior, particularly in online environments. 

Source: International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN)

Ask not what you can do for the banks, but what the banks can do for you!

Thursday 15 March is World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2012! This year's theme is Our money, our rights: campaigning for real choice in financial services, and the global consumer movement is highlighting this issue all over the world.

The right to choose

This is a basic consumer right that is continuously undermined when it comes to financial services. Consumers all over the world are getting a raw deal, but often find it difficult to shop around for a better option.

Without a strong incentive to offer more choice and better service, banks and other financial institutions are not competing with each other to offer better value.

In turn, consumers find it difficult to move their money and are trapped in bad deals. This problem applies to all sorts of financial products and services - from bank accounts to global money transfers - and it repeated the world over.  It's clear that more needs to be done to promote choice and competition in financial services.

• Discover why the consumer right to choose is all about holding businesses to account
• Find out more about the barriers to choice in financial services (pdf)

 Consumer rights: 50 years on

15 March 2012 is the 50^th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's statement on consumer rights - he was the first ever leader to define what consumer rights should mean.

• Learn more from CI's Director General about the future of JFK's vision for consumer rights

 What is happening around the world?

CI's member organisations across the world are taking action to call for meaningful choice for consumers - whether it's switching banks, buying insurance or transferring money overseas.

• See what consumer rights groups are doing for World Consumer Rights Day on our global activity map

• Find out why switching your bank might be easier that you think

 Join the conversation

• Join the discussion on our Facebook site
• Follow on twitter with #WCRD2012

National Consumer Forum (NCF)

The National Consumer Forum (NCF) is an individual-based membership consumer organisation, the most active organisation in South Africa. The main activities of NCF are: the printing and distribution of the country only consumer magazine, 'Consumer Fair'; ...

www.consumersinternational.org/our-members/member-directory/National Consumer Forum (NCF)

Office of Consumer Protection, Department of Trade and Industry

www.consumersinternational.org/our-members/member-directory/Office of Consumer Protection Department of Trade and Industry

Source: Consumers International

Vodacom’s BlackBerry data hog problem solved?

Vodacom incurred the wrath of consumers last year when it said it planned to throttle the data speeds of BlackBerry subscribers who used more than 100MB/month after some users were found to be downloading 100GB or more a month. Now, Vodacom says BlackBerry maker, Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM), has found a solution.

A Vodacom spokesman says it has developed a solution with RIM that “allows the management and control of users, applications and protocols that perform actions outside of the BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) terms and conditions”. BIS offers BlackBerry users unlimited on-device data use for a low and fixed monthly fee and has been one of the main reasons BlackBerry smartphones have proved so popular in SA, especially in the youth market. But BIS has also proved problematic for Vodacom and other operators because tech-savvy users have figured out how to download large files like movies and transfer these off their BlackBerrys. They’ve also figured out how to tether their phones to computers and run their data connections 24 hours a day.

Vodacom maintains only a small number of users is responsible for this but said last year that one BlackBerry user had managed to get through a staggering 310GB in one month. Vodacom’s response was to warn BlackBerry subscribers that it would throttle those who downloaded large amounts of data to 2G speeds, but this provoked a storm of outrage, prompting the company to backtrack on the threat.

The operator says the solution that it has developed with Research in Motion is being tested and will be deployed “shortly”. However, it won’t provide more information about how the solution works. When approached for comment on Wednesday, Research in Motion wasn’t able to comment on the solution it has developed with Vodacom.

Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral

Consumer probe unlawful – MTN

An investigation by the National Consumer Commission into MTN’s subscriber agreements and service quality was unlawful, the cellular operator argued before the National Consumer Tribunal on Friday. It also said a compliance notice issued to MTN by the consumer watchdog was sent to the wrong party. The hearing is the first under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which was implemented in April last year.

MTN is challenging a compliance order notice it received compelling it to amend its subscriber agreements and align its practices with the act. The commission has asked for a fine of 10 percent of MTN’s 2011 turnover if it is found guilty of contravening sections of the act.

Robby Coelho, a partner at law firm Webber Wentzel representing MTN, said the commission had acted beyond the powers granted by the act and therefore its investigation was unlawful. MTN said the commission had ruled against it based on an incorrect and outdated subscriber agreement even though it had implemented a new CPA-compliant contract.

Mamodupi Mohlala, the national consumer commissioner, said at the time the notice was issued in August that MTN’s amended customer contract was not yet in effect, which it should have been from April 1. Mohlala said the new contract still did not comply with section 63 of the act because it did not guarantee quality of service targets and make pricing transparent.

Advocate Alfred Cockerill, representing MTN, argued that the commission had incorrectly issued the compliance notice to MTN instead of MTN Service Provider. “If we are correct, and we believe we are, then that’s the end of the matter. The entire compliance notice (would be) invalid,” Coelho said.

Mohlala said, however, that MTN, the mother body, was licensed to provide telecoms services and not its subsidiary, MTN Service Provider, and if the latter was reprimanded then “the consumer doesn’t have recourse”. “We have also noted, in terms of their contract provision of network services, the subsidiary is not licensed to provide network services,” she said.

The tribunal did not specify a date for judgment. Hearings have also been set for other companies, including Vodacom, Cell C and TopTV.

Source: madeasy.co.za

Who is on your side?

CONSUMERS had mixed blessings this year, highlighted by the establishment of the Consumer Commissioner, and some service providers defying the new Consumer Protection Act. Some service providers treated consumers as if the Act affected only those who did business with them. But let's face it the Consumer Protection Act is here to stay and it affects us all. And in many ways the Act wants your business to be successful.

The motor industry has been problematic this year. Consumers complained that they were sold defective cars, and service providers refused to exchange the cars for new ones after failing to repair them as required by the Act. Mercedes-Benz disappointed a customer when it refused to service a car that had clocked 120000km.

The car had only exceeded the serviceable kilometres by 671km and the customer knew that he was allowed a leeway of 1500km to benefit from the motor plan. He almost parted with R21385, but after Consumer Line's intervention, the luxury car dealership reconsidered its decision and serviced the vehicle at no cost. In an extreme case, an official at the Rosebank dealership was accused of assaulting a client, Jolin Majmin, who complained about poor service after paying R17000. Majmin also claimed that his car was damaged after the dealership drove it for more than 70km while it was in their care. Mercedes-Benz SA is still investigating the complaint.

Thanks to Absa for refunding pensioner Nikki Diale her R116000 investment that was fraudulently withdrawn from her account in January. Diale was refunded after Consumer Line intervened.

A first-time car buyer, Ayanda Vumazonke, who cancelled her contract to purchase within the 10-day cooling off period, was refunded her R80000, also thanks to intervention by Consumer Line. The director of Velocity Cars in Canal Walk in Athlone, Cape Town, wanted to charge Vumazonke a cancellation fee of R6000 and additional fees of R3000 for a broken windscreen and radio even though they had not been fitted.

Another Consumer Line success yielded a R1-million handover to a road accident victim. Jabulile Mathebula was awarded R1464385 in June last year after a four-year legal battle. Her second hurdle was to get the money from her attorney, who had invested it without notifying her parents or passing it on to the curator of Mathebula's fund.

In another success, FNB refunded Jacky Nkohla his R3000 after initially refusing to do so, claiming it was a phishing scam.

To consumers, stick to your budgets, read your contracts before signing, and those fortunate enough to receive a bonus this December, you should consider putting a portion of your 13th cheque towards paying off your debts before indulging in festive season spending.

From Consumer Line we wish you a warm and joy-filled Christmas and Happy New Year. This Consumer service will re-open on January 11 2012.

Source: Mail & Guardian

CPA tasks lawyers to find 'understandable' language

The Consumer Protection Act's requirement that information about products and services be presented to consumers in "plain and understandable" language is challenging lawyers to find a legally-acceptable consensus on how such language can be defined and applied in a way that complies with the law.

In terms of the new legislation, consumers were entitled to receive information in plain and understandable language as part of their "right to disclosure and information", Neil Kirby, director at Werksmans Attorneys and head of the firm's Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Law Practice, said. "This sounds all well and good but what is plain and understandable language -- and how does one know when this has been achieved, within the context of contractual relations?"

Kirby noted that the failings of language in legal relationships were well documented in South African jurisprudence. "The difficulty that commercial lawyers generally face," he added, "is ensuring that a client's best interests are captured by the language used, especially within the context of contractual relationships."

Some of the provisions and definitions in the new Act relating to "plain and understandable language" were complex, unclear, and open to differing interpretations. But while the precise scope and ambit of some elements of the legislation were still to be determined, in essence the Act aimed to ensure that consumers understood what they were buying, as well as the terms and conditions relating to the transaction, Kirby said.

Buyers of goods and services would be deemed, in terms of the Act, to have a threshold of, "average literacy skill and minimal experience". Kirby said that the threshold was therefore particularly low for consumers but high for suppliers to meet, given that consumers had to be able to understand the communication without "undue effort".

He emphasised that the relevant provisions of the Act were designed to be as flexible as possible in order to take into account every possible relationship between consumers and suppliers. "A great deal of discretion is therefore left to those tasked with enforcing the provisions [including the National Consumer Commission], to determine what is or isn't plain and understandable language. It's the level of intelligence and education of a particular consumer that may very well inform what is plain and what is understandable in any particular circumstance."

Kirby explained, "The 'average literate and minimally experienced' consumer is a new animal in South African law. The experience of this consumer will dictate -- subject to how some provisions of the Act are to be interpreted -- whether particular suppliers are able to meet the obligations now legally imposed upon them. "This experience will also determine what plain and understandable language is -- which is to form the basis of the transaction -- and whether it is sufficient to protect both the interests of consumer and supplier."

He added that with the rights of consumers taking precedence over the rights of suppliers, suppliers would have to understand what it was that they were required to do in order to provide terms and conditions in plain and understandable language and also how their particular commercial practices aligned with aspects of the legislation. "Such compliance is important as it is the use of plain and understandable language that arguably represents the future of contractual relations in SA. The revolution of language is upon us ... and it has its roots in sections of the Consumer Protection Act."

This article is to inform and educate, not to advise.

Source: Mail & Guardian -- I-Net Bridge

Consumer Protection Act, No 68 of 2008

The Consumer Protection Act , 2008, (No 68 of 2008) was signed into law on 24 April 2009. The Act sets out the minimum requirements to ensure adequate consumer protection in South Africa. This Act constitutes an overarching framework for consumer protection, and all other laws which provides for consumer protection (usually within a particular sector) will need to be read with this Act to ensure a common standard of protection.

All suppliers of goods and services will need to take note of the new measures and ensure that they are able to comply once the Act becomes effective.
 
Chapters 1 and 5 of this Act, section 120 and any other provision authorising the Minister to make regulations became effective one year after the signing of the Act by the President, which was 24 April 2010.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2008 came into effect on 31 March 2011.

The Minister of Trade and Industry has given notice on 14 March 2011 in the Government Gazette that the Consumer Protection Act application to municipalities, other than high capacity municipalities, will be deferred until further notice. This will have the implication that consumers cannot apply the protection of the Act to transactions with these municipalities. The Minister also gave notice on 27 June 2011 in the Government Gazette on the following exemptions:

• banks will be exempt from section 14 of the Act which deals with the expiry and renewal of fixed term agreements;
• the Pension Fund Industry will be exempt from certain sections of the Act for a period of 18 months from 1 April 2011;
• the Collective Investment Scheme Industry will be exempt from certain sections of the Act for a period of 18 months from 1 April 2011;
• the Security Services Industry  will be exempt from certain sections of the Act indefinitely.

Documents:
Consumer Protection Act (Consumer Protection Act, no 68 of 2008) (250Kb PDF)
 
Government notices:

• Notice to Revoke the Application of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 to Municipalities (41Kb PDF)
• Notice to defer the application of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 to municipalities (89Kb PDF)
• Notice to exempt banks from the provisions section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (38Kb PDF) 
• Notice to exempt the Pension Fund industry, the Collective Investment Schemes industry and the Security Services industry from the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (42Kb PDF) 
 

The Minister of Trade and Industry has in terms of S120 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008  published the Consumer Protection Act Regulations  in the Government Gazette No. 34180 dated 1 April 2011.

The Regulations provides information regarding following:

• dates and times that consumers may not be contacted for direct marketing purposes;
• product labelling and trade description requirements for certain textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods;
• information to be disclosed by an intermediary as well as the records to be kept;
• reporting and record-keeping requirements for promotional competitions, as well as requirements regarding the fees to be charged where the competition is entered by SMS or MMS that exceeds the normal fee payable on the network;
• advertising of auctions in a manner that the general public has had an opportunity to become aware of the auction;
• detail regarding franchise agreements;
• the maximum period that a fixed term contract can be agreed on and the maximum cancellation fee that can be charged.

Documents:

• Consumer Protection Act Regulations as published on 1 April 2011 (220Kb PDF)
• Draft Consumer Protection Regulations (3MB PDF)
• Enforcement guidelines (2.4MB PDF) 

Submissions and Comments:

• SAICA CPA final comment letter (374Kb PDF) 
• SAICA CPA introduction letter (38Kb PDF)
• SAICA introduction letter on Enforcement guidelines (40Kb PDF) 
• SAICA comment letter on Enforcement guidelines (250Kb PDF)

Articles

• Communique, 19 August 2010 - Consumer Protection Act provides for prices of sale items to be displayed (50Kb PDF)
• Communique, 29 July 2010 - Consumer Protection Act provides for certain contracts to be in writing (80Kb PDF)
• Communique, 15 July 2010 – Consumer Protection Act addresses the consumers right to cancel a fixed contract after the expiry date (90Kb PDF)
• Communique, 1 July 2010 – Consumer Protection Act allows consumer cooling off period (25Kb PDF)
• Communique, 17 June 2010 – Consumer Protection Act introduces an implied warranty of quality on seller (113 Kb PDF)
• Communique, 3 June 2010 – Consumer Protection Act regulates franchise agreements (107 Kb PDF)
• Communique, 6 May 2010 - Consumer Protection Act extends strict liability definition (26kb PDF)
• Communique, 8 April 2010 - Consumer Protection Act protects consumers against unwanted direct marketing (100Kb PDF)
• Communique, 25 March 2010 - Consumer Protection Act clarifies indirect marketing practices (40Kb PDF)
• Communique, 11 March 2010 - Consumer Protection Act to outlaw the use of "trading as" (28kb PDF) 
• Communique, 25 February 2010 - Application of the Consumer Protection Act (20Kb PDF)
• Overview of the main features of the Consumer Protection Act (50KB PDF)

Source: The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants

South Africa: Consumers Must Be Taught About Their Rights

There is a need for consumers to be taught more about their consumer rights and the Consumer Protection Act, says Minister in the Presidency: National Planning Commission Trevor Manuel. Speaking at the 2011 Consumer Rights Conference held in Midrand today, Manuel said many families were in debt because they lacked knowledge on financial issues. "We need to understand what the Consumer Protection Act is all about," he said, adding that government needed to drive consumer education vigorously.

Manuel cautioned that people should only borrow what they can afford. There were 18.84 million credit active people in South Africa and about 8.8 million of this figure were described as having impaired credit. National Consumer Commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala, urged consumers who have had their rights violated or ignored to contact her office. She said on average, her office received about 7 000 complaints per month - the bulk of which was from the motor industry, followed by complaints about telecommunications tariffs and handsets.

Mohlala said the complaints in the motor industry were mostly from clients who bought cars thinking the vehicles were new only to discover that they actually bought old cars. "Incorrect prices and failure to adhere to the Consumer Act by the sellers keeps us on our toes as we deal with such complaints daily," she said.

She urged consumers that when lodging their complaints, they must provide full details as this helps to speed-up the processes of finding a solution to their problems.

Source: All Africa

No hope for 'crashed' Blackberry users

A LEGAL expert believes that BlackBerry users are unlikely to find consumer protection as underlined by national consumer commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala last week. The crash of the phone's e-mail and messenger services began last Monday, affecting users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, and spreading to North America by Tuesday. Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind BlackBerry smartphones said the problem was sorted on Thursday.

Commissioner Mohlala said consumers would find protection under sections 55, 56 and 61 of the Consumer Protection Act, which provides rights on the quality of goods, and liability for damage caused by goods.

However, Albert Aukema, associate in the competition practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr underlined the difference between goods and services, saying the outage was a services issue. "Although the scope of these sections have yet to be interpreted by the courts, it is unlikely that such a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the CPA. "If anything, the interruptions should accurately be categorised as impacting on the quality of the service being rendered to consumers," said Aukema. "The interruption appears to have been unrelated to defects in the handsets supplied to consumers as part of the service offering."

Meanwhile, a number of SA-based mobile operators (MTN R10 to each customer and Vodacom 20 minutes of calls and 20 SMS's on Vodacom to Vodacom service) moved to provide some form of compensation to BlackBerry customers, "as a token of goodwill".

Source: Mail & Guardian

Notes:

In the article above, it is mentioned that "Commissioner Mohlala said consumers would find protection under sections 55, 56 and 61 of the Consumer Protection Act ("the act"), which provides rights on the quality of goods, and liability for damage caused by goods." It is also mentioned that "it is unlikely that ... a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the CPA. ... If anything, the interruptions should accurately be categorised as impacting on the quality of the service being rendered to consumers."

Legislation must be interpreted to promote the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights. Interpretation and application of the law under the Constitution is never a mechanical application of rules; it always involves a value judgment. Our Constitution and law are infused with moral values. The days of denying the value-laden content of law are long gone. See Maphango and Others v Aengus Lifestyle Properties (Pty) Ltd (CCT 57/11) [2012] ZACC 2 (13 March 2012) at 151.

In our view, it is important to read the provisions in Part H (fair value, quality and safety) of the act as a whole to intepret any provision contained in that part.

It is similarly important to apply a purposive interpretation to the provisions. By applying such an interpretation, it is important to read Chapter 1 of the act, which deals with the interpretation, purpose and application of the act. It is thus incorrect to apply a mechanical application of traditional (un-transformed) rules of interpretation.

Chapter 2 of the act deals with fundamental consumer rights. The chapter is divided into parts, each part dealing with an aspect of as the consumer's right as follows:

Part A: The right of equality in the consumer market
Part B: The right to privacy
Part C: The right to choose
Part D: The right to disclose and information
Part E: The right to fair and responsible marketing
Part F: The right to fair and honest dealings
Part G: The right to fair, just and reasonable terms and conditions
Part H: The right to fair value, quality and safety
Part I: The right to accountability

Section 55 of the the act deals with the consumer's right to safe, good quality goods. Section 56 deals with the implied warranty of quality of goods supplied.

Section 61 of the the act deals with liability for damage caused by goods. The section provides that "the producer or importer, distributor or retailer of any goods is liable for any harm ... caused wholly or partly as a consequence of -

(a) supplying any unsafe goods;
(b) a product failure, defect or hazard in any goods; or
(c) inadequate instructions or warnings provided to the consumer pertaining to any hazard arising from or associated with the use of any goods,irrespective of whether the harm resulted from any negligence on the part of the producer, importer, distributor or retailer, as the case may be."

Section 61(2) of the act provides that "a supplier of services who, in conjunction with the performance of those services, applies, supplies, installs or provides access to any goods, must be regarded as a supplier of those goods to the consumer, for the purposes of this section."

Section 61(5) of the act provides that "[h]arm for which a person may be held liable in terms of this section includes -

(a) the death of, or injury to, any natural person;
(b) an illness of any natural person;
(c) any loss of, or physical damage to any property, irrespective of whether it is movable or immovable; and
(d) any economic loss that results from harm contemplated in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).

It is important to note that the article above ommits a reference to section 54 of the act, which deals with the consumer's right to demand quality service. The section reads as follows:

"(1) When a supplier undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to-

(a) the timely performance and completion of those services, and timely notice of any unavoidable delay in the performance of the services;
(b) the performance of the services in a manner and quality that persons are generally entitled to expect;
(c) the use, delivery or installation of goods that are free of defects and of a quality that persons are generally entitled to expect, if any such goods are required for performance of the services; and
(d) the return of any property or control over any property of the consumer in at least as good a condition as it was when the consumer made it available to the supplier for the purpose of performing such services, having regard to the circumstances of the supply, and any specific criteria or conditions agreed between the supplier and the consumer before or during the performance of the services.

(2) If a supplier fails to perform a service to the standards contemplated in subsection (1), the consumer may require the supplier to either-

(a) remedy any defect in the quality of the services performed or goods supplied; or
(b) refund to the consumer a reasonable portion of the price paid for the services performed and goods supplied, having regard to the extent of the failure."

We therefore do not agree with Albert Aukema, associate in the competition practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, that "it is unlikely that ... a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the [act]." It is apparent that Aukema has applied on outdated rule of interpretation in his analysis of the act.

Whilst the interpretation of the act by Aukema may favour the service provider, at the prejudice of the consumer, it is unlikely to find favour with a transformed court that promotes the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights, contained within the Consititution of South Africa.

MTN & Vodacom to refund customers

After days of frustrations, BlackBerry users will be reimbursed for the internet time lost during the network break down. Cellphone operators under their own discretion will give customers free airtime. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) blamed a core switch failure inside its network for the black out. The three day long failure affected four continents including Africa and Asia.

MTN's Mike Fairon said their customers will receive R10 each.

While Vodacom’s Richard Borman said their clients will also be reimbursed. “We’re going to give people 20 minutes of calls Vodacom to Vodacom next week and 20 SMSes,” Borman added.

Source: Eye Withness News

South Africa: Environment Included in Consumer Protection Act

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which came into effect on 1 April 2011 includes the regulation of goods and services with actual or potential environmental and/or health impacts. The obligation to provide information in respect of potential or actual environmental or health impacts of goods or services is covered by CPA regulation. "The CPA requires that the information which is accurate and not misleading or deceptive must be disclosed in plain language on product labels and in descriptions of goods (trade descriptions) and in the course of marketing goods and services, where appropriate," says Helen Dagut, a senior associate at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr business law firm.

The CPA also imposes the obligation to provide customers with safe, good quality goods. "Suppliers are required to alert consumers to potential risks associated with goods or services, which may include environmental or health risks. Where not labelled in terms of the requirements of other legislation, hazardous or "unsafe" goods (defined to include those which potentially present hazards or may be unsafe to persons or property) are required to meet specified packing standards. Suppliers or installers of hazardous or unsafe goods such as batteries or aerosols which have a risk of explosion, must supply information in respect of the hazards to the consumer," explains Dagut.

The CPA regulations also include the obligation on suppliers to not knowingly take advantage of the fact that a consumer is unable to protect his or her own interests because of, among other things, ignorance of the true facts relating to a product. "If a supplier behaves in this way it is considered "unconscionable" as that term is defined in the CPA. Relying on this provision, a group of South African consumers has laid a complaint with the Consumer Commissioner in respect of the treatment of pigs and chickens in factory farms, about which, they allege, the South African public is given insufficient information."

Dagut says that obligations are also imposed in respect of the recovery and safe disposal of goods (for example electronic goods) which cannot be disposed of along with other wastes, which are likely to include those with the potential to harm the environment, for the example through leaching of toxic substances. "Specifically, suppliers must accept their return (including of their parts/remnants) from the consumer, without charging the consumer, irrespective of whether the supplier supplied the particular returned object to that particular consumer. Producers, importers and distributors of such goods must accept their return from the suppliers.

These provisions are consistent with those requiring extended producer responsibility under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act," she explains. The producer, importer, distributor or retailer of goods is liable for harm, including damage to property, caused by the supply of unsafe goods, hazards in any goods or inadequate instructions or warnings provided to the consumer in respect of hazards arising from the goods, irrespective of whether the harm resulted from any negligence on the producer, importer, distributor or retailer. Claims for damages under this section prescribe after three years in specified circumstances. "The promulgation of the CPA therefore results in an additional layer of obligations in respect of goods or services with potential or actual hazards or risks to consumers and/or the environment being imposed, which are required to be complied with in addition to other obligations for environmental protection prescribed under environmental laws.

Consumers may enforce their rights, and have begun to do so, where producers and suppliers are failing to do so," Dagut adds.

Source: All Africa

South Africa: Conflict in Provisions of the Advertising Standards Authority Code and Advertising Practice?

The advent of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (CPA) heralds an era of legislated advertising standards. This stands in contrast to the position that had been in place up to 1 April 2011, when the CPA took full force and effect. Up to this date, consumer complaints in respect of advertising had to be directed to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which is the adjudicative body tasked with ensuring compliance with a voluntary code of self-regulation put in place by marketers and advertisers, the Code of Advertising Practice (the code).

There are several areas of overlap between the provisions of the CPA that deal with advertising in marketing standards and the code. Both, for example, deal with issues such as dishonesty in advertising, misleading consumers, harmful exaggeration in advertising, failures to correct consumer misapprehensions created by advertisements, particularly with regard to the substantiation of claims made about performance characteristics and ingredients and properties of advertised products. Other areas of overlap include references to the running of promotional competitions, discriminatory marketing as well as work from home schemes, but these are by no means the only similarities.

The circumstance now exists whereby a consumer that is aggrieved by an advertisement has an election as to whether to refer the complaint arising to the ASA or to the Consumer Commission (the regulatory body established in terms of the CPA in order to enforce its provisions). This is highly undesirable, not least because an advertiser (who may well be innocent of any charge levelled against it) may have to fight the same claim on two fronts. This may, in turn, lead to the ultimately undesirable outcome of two different decisions being handed down by the statutory regulator and the self-regulatory body, the ASA. For all the similarities between provisions of the advertising code and the provisions of the CPA insofar as they relate to advertising, there are also areas of dissimilarity and disparity when advertisers and marketers may find themselves in an ultimately undesirable position whereby they are torn between strict compliance with the law and a self-regulatory code to which they have pledged allegiance.

This duality of regulation leads one to the conclusion that one or other regulatory regime should give way to the other. Clearly, the CPA, as a statute of Parliament, trumps the voluntary Code. At the same time, the ASA is a body of considerable experience and expertise which should not go to waste. The answer, we suggest, lies in the ASA taking advantage of provisions of the CPA which permit suppliers within an industry to agree upon an industry code of conduct, which can be certified by the National Consumer Commission as an acceptable code of compliance with the CPA. At the same time, an industry code of conduct may make provision for the certification of an ombud to hear and resolve disputes within that industry, applying the accepted industry code. Clearly, the ASA is ideally placed to step in the role of accredited industry ombudsman for consumer advertising complaints under the CPA.

The future of the ASA and the code, at least where it relates to consumers, surely lies within the willingness of the advertising and marketing industry to seek to bring the code into alignment with the provisions of the CPA, have it accredited as an industry code of conduct and to have the ASA designated as the industry ombud for determination of consumer advertising complaints. Doubtless, the Consumer Commission would be grateful to have an experienced regulatory in place to deal with the many consumer advertising complaints that are raised each year rather than having to deal with them itself and this move will also solve the problem of a duplicity of regulatory regimens being in place.

Source: all Africa

Operators face showdown at the consumer corral

The National Consumer Commission, established in April to enforce the new Consumer Protection Act, has received objections from all of SA’s big operators, with the exception of Neotel, to the compliance notices it served on them demanding they make the terms of their contracts clearer to consumers.

Head of the commission, Mamodupi Mohlala, initially set a deadline of mid-September for operators to comply with its demands for transparency in advertising, non-automatic renewal of contracts and the ability for consumers to cancel contracts by giving 20 days’ notice, as stipulated by the act. To date, only Neotel has agreed to amend its contracts.

Vodacom recently expressed its opposition to the compliance notices, claiming it was already in talks with the commission regarding amendments to its contracts and advertising. The company’s chief officer for corporate affairs, Portia Maurice, said recently the company was “surprised” to receive a compliance notice because it “already had an amendment process underway and had agreed with [the commission to] an implementation date of 31 October”.

Mohlala says the commission received objection notices from Cell C and MTN on Wednesday, and that it expected objections from Telkom and its mobile arm, 8ta, to follow. The commission has been arguing with Vodacom about issues of quality of service for some time. “In terms of section 54 of the act, which deals with issues of quality of service, a consumer is entitled to receive goods or services at levels to which that consumer is accustomed, or at the levels as stipulated in the consumer’s contract,” Mohlala tells TechCentral.

She says the issue is of growing relevance in light of Vodacom’s recent network failure and the furore earlier this week regarding its announcement that it would be throttling data speeds of heavy users of the BlackBerry Internet Service. Vodacom has since backtracked on its stated plans, with group CEO Pieter Uys blaming miscommunication by its corporate communications department. “In terms of these compliance notices, we as the commission are saying there must be some guarantees with regards to quality of service. Currently, as the operators’ contracts stand, there are no guarantees,” says Mohlala.

She says consumers are expected to “hold up their end of the agreements” by paying for services and paying additional fees in the case of premium services, but there “are no reciprocal guarantees from network operators around quality of service”.

The consumer act specifies that in the event that an operator does not meet the “particular quality-of-service levels that are outlined in a contact”, then the it “must offer the affected consumer a remedy”, she says. If not, “the consumer is entitled to a refund to the extent that they have not received the guaranteed services or quality of service. Consumers must be compensated when operators don’t meet their obligations.”

According to Mohlala, operators have “exclusive control over issues of network coverage and quality of service” and therefore need to give “some sort of commitment to consumers who are paying a lot for those services”.

She says the compliance notices served on the operators also deal with the provisions of section 14 of the act. This refers to the bundling of services. The act says the “bundling of services is not prohibited, but operators must clearly show the benefits of a bundled service to consumers. Over and above that, they must show the financial benefits to the consumer.”

Under the act, operators are obliged to make explicit and explain “in simple terms” what the unbundled costs of a service would be when compared to the bundled offering. “The obvious argument operators are going to put forward is that they don’t have absolute control over the services or over the full value chain of bundled services,” she says. “But we are saying to some extent, in relation to the product and services that they do offer, they have exclusive control over airtime [and] they have a responsibility to demonstrate the benefits of the various elements of the bundled service.”

Mothibi Ramusi, Cell C’s executive head of regulatory affairs, says the company objected to notice it received because it believes there was “no merit in issuing a compliance notice as Cell C’s subscriber agreement is compliant with the act”.

Vodacom’s Maurice says the operator intends to “address the matter” of the compliance notice it received “directly with the commission”. And Robert Madzonga, chief corporate services officer at MTN SA, says the compliance notice called for it to “adopt wording proposed by the commission” in its contracts and that it has “formally objected to the notice on various legitimate grounds”.

“MTN has asked the [national consumer] tribunal to set the notice aside,” Madzonga says. “Amongst other things, MTN contends the notice was issued at a time when the subscriber agreement was in fact compliant; that the notice is based on an outdated and incorrect version of the subscriber agreement; and that the wording proposed in the notice is inappropriate.”

He says that should the tribunal refuse to set aside the notice, “MTN has asked that the terms of the notice ought to be varied so as to allow a proper timeframe for compliance”.

Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral

Vodacom 'spiritually at odds' with Consumer Protection Act

Vodacom's decision to slow down the speed at which BlackBerry users access the internet if they have used more than a 100 megabytes of data a month could be in breach of the "spirit" of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), analysts say.

The mobile phone company announced on Monday that "the 5% of the base who are not using the service for what it was intended will have their connection speed reduced from 3G to 2G levels". Any BlackBerry user who downloads more than 100MB a month would get remaining data at a slower speed even if the consumer had paid for a 3G phone. BlackBerry enterprise users are not affected.

Vodacom has defended its decision, saying the move was intended "to make sure the vast majority of BlackBerry users could access the internet and BlackBerry services more quickly and are not affected by those who abuse the service". But Plain Language attorney Candice Burt believes there is scope to challenge this new business practice under the CPA. "The CPA provides that a supplier of services must not engage in misleading conduct," she told the Mail & Guardian. "This applies to adverts as well as to contracts. It also places an onus on a supplier to correct any false expectations that consumers may have. We must look at how a consumer would understand the terms 'unlimited browsing' and '3G'," she added.

After the announcement, almost 700 Vodacom customers threatened "war" on the company's Facebook page. Subscribers lambasted the mobile company's decision and threatened to take their business to other mobile operators. "Maybe I should report this to the National Consumer Commission, they're the only one who can bring them to book," wrote Tumelo Mokhele on the Facebook page.

Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman acknowledged that there was "huge anger" at the company, but said BlackBerry users misunderstood the move, which was aimed at stopping people downloading excessive amounts of data. Boorman said the company was "finding a way to make sure 95% weren't disadvantaged by small minority". He said that reducing download speeds to 2G would not make accessing the websites on a BlackBerry "dramatically slower" for most users, but it would stop users from downloading movies and streaming video when the free BlackBerry service was designed for normal web browsing. "By doing this the network will become faster," he added.

Sarina Govindsamy, an attorney at Gavin Gow Inc, said the decision was not in the "spirit and ethos of the Consumer Protection Act". "A company may not amend the terms and conditions of a contract after it has been agreed. That would constitute a breach of contract," she said. Boorman denied the company was in breach of contract. "We're not changing the terms and conditions of contracts," he said. However, according to Burt, for Vodacom to invoke existing terms and conditions, the consumer's attention would have to be drawn expressly to the relevant clause in the contract that spoke about misuse of the BlackBerry internet service, and the consumer would have to expressly acknowledge the contents of the clause. "To decide if this change by Vodacom contravenes the CPA, we must look at the subscriber agreement," she said. "The plain language requirement of the CPA also means that the contract must be written in a way that the 'ordinary consumer with minimal experience of the product or service' can understand and use the information without undue effort," Burt added.

Boorman said Vodacom's BlackBerry subscribers are not guaranteed a specific download speed when they sign up, but rather promised free internet service -- to which they still had access, following the decision to limit speeds. "We did this to make sure the vast majority people get what they want," he told the M&G.

IT analyst and World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck criticised Vodacom's decision to slow down internet usage after 100MB of data had been used. He said it showed "they do not understand how the South African market is using the internet on mobile phones". But Boorman insisted 100MB was a lot of data. "A hundred megabytes on a BlackBerry is equal to about 400 megabytes on a normal computer because BlackBerry phones compress the size of websites, regardless of whether they were mobile websites or not," he said.

Vodacom may have implemented the speed limit because its technical infrastructure is taking strain. "It may be that Vodacom is trying to contain the high usage because the data network is creaking at the seams," said Goldstuck.

On Vodacom's Facebook page, Jose Antonio De Abreu voiced similar concerns: "This is just a way for Vodacom to hide the fact that they are running out of network capacity. They are trying to hide it buy throttling users to try and cope better".

Vodacom's Boorman denied this, however. "There is no problem with the network," he said, insisting the decision was simply meant to benefit the average user. "There is no internet cap," he reiterated. "Customers will continue to have unlimited internet service." He said the decision was to combat users like the one who posted this comment on my broadband.com internet forum: "In a 24hr period I managed to download a total of 8.1GB of Big Bang Theory episodes on my BB 9300 3G.

According to some opinions BlackBerry isn't the 'slickest' or the 'fastest growing' OS out there but the potential to download a possible 243GB in a 30-day month for R59/month makes a big argument in its [favour]."

Source: Mail & Guardian

A cellular licence to print money

The proverbial licence to print money is not the chain of casinos or bottle stores of a generation ago. It’s the telecommunications company, exploiting the now universal desire for people to be online and electronically in touch. This is a sector that generates massive revenues. Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest network provider with 26.6-million customers, in the past year turned over R54bn and almost doubled its net profits to R8bn. International player MTN, with 18.8m local subscribers, increased profits by 20% and had SA revenues of around R37bn.

This is also the sector that draws the most consumer complaints, along with the pharmaceutical/healthcare industries, retail and banking. It is then logical that the new National Consumer Commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala, targeted telecommunication providers as a priority in implementing the recently passed Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

One of Mohlala’s first acts was to force SA’s four cellular network operators and two fixed-line providers to bring their customer contracts in line with the CPA. Despite knowing the intentions of the Act for five years, not a single one was compliant and, in most cases, 75% of their cellphone contracts were in breach.

Basically these companies were quite happy to take advantage of consumers – many illiterate and poor, and for whom a cellphone is a necessity that comes at a disproportionately large monthly cost – for as long as they could get away with. Since then Vodacom has come under further pressure from the commissioner, who ruled that it should compensate those of its subscribers who suffered financial loss when the Vodacom network collapsed a few months back. Vodacom has point-blank refused to comply. As an aside, Vodacom’s media liaison division failed to respond to repeated calls from this writer. Ironically, this is the company that sponsors an annual series of journalism awards.

Given the greed and arrogance that prevails, it should then come as no surprise that the cellular providers have since lobbied to be exempted from the CPA, on the grounds that they are already regulated by the Independent Communication Authority (Icasa). Fat lot of good Icasa would be. Writing in Business Report a few months ago, economic empowerment strategist Thabo Masombuko outlined a stinging assessment of ICASA’s consumer policing abilities, which have made the sector “a haven for tariff looting, exorbitant charges and ridiculous costs … While costs have ballooned, cellular and landline services have become an out-of-reach pie in the sky for millions of users.”

There is an established pattern to this. When cellular licences were first issued to Vodacom and MTN, part of their obligation was the rolling out of rural coverage as a development of national infrastructural that it was hoped would improve the countryside’s potential to create jobs. Unfortunately, it was an obligation only scrappily met, given the lure of lucrative urban rollouts — and the lovely tax from the resultantly dazzling profits — with the result two decades later of unreliable, low-speed rural coverage.

Nor has state entity Telkom, met its statutory obligation to provide countrywide communication systems. Faced with endemic cable theft, the Telkom’s outrageous solution has been simply to cut off both telephone and landline broadband services in rural areas, in favour of a wireless voice service that verges on the useless, in the view of its critics. By the Telkom example, this week’s theft of cabling serving the Gautrain would be dealt with by mothballing the service and suggesting that passengers use taxis instead.

The opportunity costs of these failures are enormous. The World Bank estimates that a 10% increase in broadband penetration delivers a 1.3% rise in economic growth. Is is however an unpalatable fact that in SA, just a dozen or so kilometres outside of the major cities and towns, broadband access is virtually unobtainable. And when available, SA’s mobile broadband remains prohibitively expensive, among the dearest in the world. This inertia and indifference by both the private sector and the state, impacts directly on government’s objective of providing the infrastructural backbone that will allow local communities to grow local jobs, instead of encouraging a growing flow of job seekers to the cities.

When Roy Padayachie took over the long-neglected Communications portfolio he set as his ministerial goal to partner with the private sector to harness telecommunications technology to economic growth. It’s a laudable but unrealisable dream, unless he can get the cellular providers to take their developmental responsibilities a little more seriously.

Source: Mail & Guardian Thought Leader: William Sauderson-Meyer

Telkom in violation of Consumer Act

Telecommunications group Telkom’s insistence on bundling its ADSL data service with a compulsory voice service could mean contravention of SA’s new Consumer Protection Act (CPA), the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) said on Monday.

ISPA general manager, Ant Brooks said that the CPA had clear prescriptions against bundling goods and services in a manner that forced consumers to enter into agreements or transactions they did not require as a condition of buying a certain product or service. ISPA said that the Act saw such practices as a limitation on the consumer’s right to choose suppliers for each service. According to the Act, compulsory bundling of services was forbidden unless the supplier could prove that it offered economic benefits and convenience to the consumer that outweighed the drawbacks of limiting choice.

According to the industry body, Telkom’s ADSL lines were not available in ‘naked’ DSL options, though one could purchase a voice service without DSL. ISPA said it believed that forcing a client to take a voice product and pay a rental fee for a voice line when he or she simply wanted a data line was a form of product bundling that was contrary to the CPA. Telkom would be hard pressed to prove that the bundling of a voice service and ADSL line offered economic benefits or convenience to the subscriber, as many subscribers either wanted the option of using an alternative voice service provider or did not want a voice service at all, said Brooks. "Many users regard the voice line rental fee as a ‘Telkom tax’. In many cases, the voice service is not wanted yet consumers are forced to pay for it if they want an ADSL line," said Brooks. "Telkom is constraining consumer choice with this practice."

Source: Business Day

Cellphone companies still selling hot air

The cellphone networks, which do rather well out of our collective obsession with staying connected via our ever-more-clever handsets, have been disappointingly slow to embrace aspects of the Consumer Protection Act which don’t suit them. Chief among these is the stipulation that all pre-paid vouchers must be honoured for up to three years. That means that any goods or services you pay for in advance – from a bus coupon to a facial to cellphone airtime – must be redeemed within three years of the date of purchase, and companies no longer have the right to tell you one or three months down the line “sorry, it’s expired, you forfeit”.

The cellphone companies appear to be carrying on regardless, in this and other respects, while promising the National Consumer Commission that they’ll get their act together within three months. Jerry Buirski told Consumer watch as he approached the Cape by sea last week that he noticed he had Vodacom’s 3G signal, so he powered up his laptop and prepared to send a month’s worth of e-mails. “However, I found I’d lost all my unused data on June 30. This does not seem right at all.”

National Consumer Commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala has recently publicly repeated the commission’s stance that all pre-paid airtime and data must be redeemable for up to three years in terms of the CPA. Asked to respond to Buirski’s experience, Vodacom’s chief officer of corporate affairs, Portia Maurice, said: “The commissioner has requested us to investigate this aspect of the act and present further submissions in support of our current business practices. We are currently reviewing this and will provide a response to the commissioner.”

Last month, when questioned on the premature expiry of pre-paid data, Vodacom told Consumer Watch: “When customers purchase data bundles, funds are deducted from their airtime in return for access to data bundles. So they are deemed to have exchanged the value of their prepaid airtime for access to data bundles. “There’s a difference between a voucher and a product bought by that voucher. The three-year expiry rule refers to vouchers and not to products purchased by vouchers.”

But Mohlala doesn’t agree with this interpretation, insisting that pre-paid data may not “expire” within three years of purchase. “We’ve had long discussions with the industry and I’ve made it clear that if they are not willing to come to the party on this and other issues of compliance with the act, we have the power to issue a compliance notice,” Mohlala said.

The ultimate sanction, in terms of the CPA, is a fine of R1 million or 10 percent of annual turnover. But subscribers continue to be deprived of cell products they’ve paid for a few months previously. Gary Cousins told Consumer Watch that he bought R300 of airtime for his teenage son in early March which was loaded on to his (son’s) number. But by early June, three months later, despite having used only about half that amount, his son was unable to send SMSes. “I suspected that the remaining airtime had been ‘removed’, so I sent him another R50 on July 10, and his phone immediately started sending SMSes,” Cousins said. “A balance enquiry showed R50 airtime remaining.”

So I asked Cell C: “Is it true that by early June the unused portion of that R300 airtime ‘expired’? “If so, how is this justified?” This was the response I got: “Icasa (the Independent Communications Authority of SA) is in the process of applying to the National Consumer Commission for an exemption with regards to this aspect of the act. Until the process is complete, Cell C cannot comment on the matter.”

Interestingly, Icasa’s concern about the CPA’s provision that pre-paid vouchers be redeemable by consumers for up to three years has to do with the recycling of numbers. But Icasa is not in favour of consumers losing out on pre-paid airtime and data. Icasa councillor Fungai Sibanda told Consumer Watch: “Icasa is of the view that consumers must be protected with respect to unused credit, whilst at the same time allowing inactive numbers to be recycled.” But right now pre-paid cellphone users are continuing to be “robbed” of their unused airtime and data – almost four months after the CPA came into effect.

Source: IoL

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 68 OF 2008

The purpose of the CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 68 OF 2008 is to promote a fair, accessible and sustainable marketplace for consumer products and services and for that purpose:

1. to establish national norms and standards relating to consumer protection,
2. to provide for improved standards of consumer information,
3. to prohibit certain unfair marketing and business practices,
4. to promote responsible consumer behaviour,
5. to promote a consistent legislative and enforcement framework relating to consumer transactions and agreements,
6. to establish the National Consumer Commission.

The people of South Africa recognize:

1. that it is necessary to develop and employ innovative means to:
(a) protect the interests of all consumers, ensure accessible, transparent and efficient redress for consumers who are subjected to abuse or exploitation in the marketplace; and
(b) to give effect to internationally recognised customer rights;
2. That recent and emerging technological changes, trading methods, patterns and agreements have brought, and will continue to bring, new benefits, opportunities and challenges to the market for consumer goods and services within South Africa; and
3. That it is desirable to promote an economic environment that supports and strengthens a culture of consumer rights and responsibilities, business innovation and enhanced performance.

For the reasons set out above, and to give effect to the international law obligations of the Republic, a law is to be enacted in order to
1. promote and protect the economic interests of consumers;
2. improve access to, and the quality of, information that is necessary so that consumers are able to make informed choices according to their individual wishes and needs;
3. protect consumers from hazards to their well being and safety;
4. develop effective means of redress for consumers;
5. promote and provide for consumer education, including education concerning the social and economic effects of consumer choices;
6. facilitate the freedom of consumers to associate and form groups to advocate and promote their common interests; and
8. promote consumer participation in decision-making processes concerning the marketplace and the interests of consumers.

Source: Sabinet

Send them to jail for stealing from the poor

The National Consumer Forum has praised the Competition Commission for bringing Pioneer Foods to book for price-fixing, but has called again for tougher measures against the guilty individuals within companies. "We congratulate the commission for its tenacity and professionalism in finally getting Pioneer to accept its unethical and illegal behaviour," said NCF chairman Thami Bolani. "They have kept up the pressure despite Pioneer's arrogant denial of wrongdoing and its endless legal wrangling."

Bolani also commended the innovative terms that the commission had secured in addition to the administrative fines allowed by the Competition Act. "The commission has come up with initiatives that promise to both foster more competition in this sector, and to compensate consumers to some extent," he said.

The NCF has previously raised with the Treasury the idea of directing part of the revenue from competition fines to building the capacity of the consumer movement in the country, thereby empowering consumer groups to play a greater role in fostering market competition.

Bolani emphasised, however, that anti-competitive behaviour will remain widespread until the legal option of jail sentences for executives and directors of price-fixing companies is introduced. "Company executives will continue to take a chance until they are made personally liable for what is essentially a crime of theft from the consumer," he said. "If the state is able to jail ex-police chief Jackie Selebi for 15 years for fraud, then corporate fraudsters deserve no less a punishment."

Source: Consumer Fair

National Consumer Forum (NCF)

Member no.: 2002 (of Consumers International)
Joining date: 14 Mar 2000
Operational language: English
Member type: Affiliate
Type of Work: Campaigning and/or lobbying,Consumer Advice,Dispute Resolution,Networking

Location: South Africa
Telephone: +27 12 403 7071
Fax: +27 12 428 7284
Main contact: Thami Bolani
Position: Chairman

Description

The National Consumer Forum (NCF) is an individual-based membership consumer organisation, the most active organisation in South Africa. The main activities of NCF are: the printing and distribution of the country only consumer magazine, 'Consumer Fair'; the consumer complaints handling service which handles about 250 queries monthly; advocacy work which focuses on financial services, health, food safety and security, and legislation on consumer protection. Consumer education also plays an important role in the work of the NCF with regular slots on national TV and Radio. Its most popular programme on Ikwekwezi FM attracts about 550,000 listeners.

Current campaigns

ISO 26000

www.ncf.org.za

Source: Consumers International