j4ck455
26-10-2011, 08:17 PM
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/gautrain-agency-to-appeal-govt-for-consumer-act-exemption-2011-10-24
The Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) would appeal the decision by the National Consumer Commission that the rail operation was contravening the Consumer Protection Act by allowing its frequent user discount passes to lapse within seven days and 35 days, respectively, said GMA CEO Jack van der Merwe on Monday.
Considering the start of the illegal Gautrain bus drivers strike on Tuesday, where there was no prior warning for commuters that rely on the Gautrain and specifically its feeder bus service to get to and from Gautrain stations, as well as numerous other Gautrain service disruptions, I really don't think the Gautrain should be exempted from the stipulations of the CPA.
As things stand right now, there is no updated info on Gautrain's RSS feed to indicate whether the strike will continue on Thursday or if it has definitely come to an end today (Wednesday).
I intend to lodge a formal complaint with the NCC (ncc@thedti.gov.za) as a direct result of the fact that the 7 day 10 trips bundle I purchased on Monday and started using on Monday, will expire on Sunday whilst I was not able to use the service today as I would have been stranded at the station (as I was on Tuesday) due to the illegal strike by Gautrain bus drivers.
Gautrain/Bombela should give some serious thought to the expiry periods (7 days and 35 days) attached to these bundled trips, these expiry periods are probably yet another disincentive to a significant number of would-be regular commuters (other disincentives being the inherent unreliability of the Gautrain service despite what Bombela says about uptime compared to the UK's Underground services where there is significantly more redundancy in case of a failure at most points).
The Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) would appeal the decision by the National Consumer Commission that the rail operation was contravening the Consumer Protection Act by allowing its frequent user discount passes to lapse within seven days and 35 days, respectively, said GMA CEO Jack van der Merwe on Monday.
Considering the start of the illegal Gautrain bus drivers strike on Tuesday, where there was no prior warning for commuters that rely on the Gautrain and specifically its feeder bus service to get to and from Gautrain stations, as well as numerous other Gautrain service disruptions, I really don't think the Gautrain should be exempted from the stipulations of the CPA.
As things stand right now, there is no updated info on Gautrain's RSS feed to indicate whether the strike will continue on Thursday or if it has definitely come to an end today (Wednesday).
I intend to lodge a formal complaint with the NCC (ncc@thedti.gov.za) as a direct result of the fact that the 7 day 10 trips bundle I purchased on Monday and started using on Monday, will expire on Sunday whilst I was not able to use the service today as I would have been stranded at the station (as I was on Tuesday) due to the illegal strike by Gautrain bus drivers.
Gautrain/Bombela should give some serious thought to the expiry periods (7 days and 35 days) attached to these bundled trips, these expiry periods are probably yet another disincentive to a significant number of would-be regular commuters (other disincentives being the inherent unreliability of the Gautrain service despite what Bombela says about uptime compared to the UK's Underground services where there is significantly more redundancy in case of a failure at most points).