across the bar

Not a good day for Multichoice and TopTv

by Ashley - Posted 21 October 2011

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Consumer watchdog's bark turns into a bite

by Ashley - Posted 05 September 2011

The Consumer Protection Act affords consumers specific forms of relief when goods they purchase are defective.

The National Consumer Commission recently gave BMW South Africa  and one of its Johannesburg dealerships 15 days to replace a customer’s defective E 82 135i Coupe, worth R 450 000.00 or face being fined 10% of its annual turnover.  The Commission further ordered BMW South Africa to replace a broken armrest  on a 2008 Z4 M Coupe or risk being fined R 500 000.00.

A Fiat dealership was recently ordered to refund a customer or replace a Fiat Punto Active which had problems with the engine and tachometer a day after it was delivered.

Although BMW and the Fiat Dealership have stated that they will file objections to the Commission’s decision it is clear that the Commission is flexing its muscles and will in future not be shy to dish out hefty fines.

As a business owner it is important to ensure that your company’s policies, procedures and documentation comply with the new act.

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Consumer Protection in SA gets going

by Nicci - Posted 03 April 2011

The Consumer Protection Act came into force on 1 April 2011 as promised by the DTI. The finalised regulations were published the night before and the new National Consumer Commission (NCC) opened its doors for business on Friday.

Small businesses (cc's, companies and partnerships) with annual turnover or asset values of R2 million or less will enjoy protection as "consumers" (although not all the protection under the Act will be applicable to them).

Complaints can now also be lodged by consumers with the NCC.

Check out http://consumerlaw.co.za for more information. 

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New Companies Act and Consumer Protection Act update...

by Nicci - Posted 03 October 2010

This week the implementation of both the 2008 Companies Act and the Consumer Protection Act were postponed to April 2011. This allows time for the various commissions provided for in the Acts to be created (the Companies Commission and the National Consumer Commission) and for the Regulations to be finalised, which will give businesses more certainty around what to prepare for in the months coming up.

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new consumer protection act gets going on 28 april 2010

by Steve - Posted 29 April 2010

The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 became an Act by publication in the Government Gazette on 28 April 2009. The actual implementation of the new law was staggered over 18 months with the 2 important milestones being 28 April 2010 and 28 October 2010.

On the first milestone - 28 April 2010, the Minister of Trade and Industry must start the process of establishing the bodies and structures required to administer the new law, including the National Consumer Commission and Tribunal. The Minister will also need to be in a position to deal with the accreditation process for consumer groups who want to be recognised under the Act.

Once this has been done, the Minister must then set about the task of making regulations to flesh out various sections of the Act. This process will require further consultation with the Commission and accredited consumer groups. The most important regulations will be those pertaining to: 

a)    the functioning of the Commission and the Tribunal;

b)    what contractual terms will be regarded as unfair, unjust and unreasonable to consumers;

c)    the publication of the various forms required by the Act to be used by suppliers and service providers in their dealings with consumers.

The Minister has been given 6 months to get all this up and running which seems unlikely to be enough time. This time period can be extended by a further 6 months on application by the Minister.

More importantly, manufacturers, importers and retailers who release defective or unsafe products onto the market after 28 April 2010 may now be held liable under the strict product liability provisions of the Act. Consumers who buy defective products after 28 April 2010 will be able to sue the suppliers of the defective product without having to prove that the supplier was negligent. Consumers will be able to recover damages for any loss they have suffered because of the defect.
 

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SPAM - the current law in SA

by Steve - Posted 11 July 2005

Thanks to Rob for his immediate support of the 30 day blog quest. He wanted a layperson's rundown of SA's current law on spam. 
So here it is without the legalese:

1)    You can send someone 1 unsolicited e-mail (or SMS) without their prior permission.

2)    If they then tell you that they don't want anymore of what you are flogging, you can't send anything else. If you do, you are committing a criminal offence!

3)    If the receiver asks you where you got his/her details, you gotta tell them. If you don't, you are committing a criminal offence!

The penalty for spamming in SA at the moment is a fine or up to 1 year prison time.

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Nicciferguson on SMS spam

by default - Posted 26 May 2005

Article in the Natal Mercury - http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=vn20050520075836741C770595 - on SMS spam and what is being and can be done about it.
 

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