Consumers warned against manipulating protection act
Consumers who intend to manipulate the new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) to advance their own interests at the expense of retailers will be monitored, the Consumer Goods Council of SA (CGCSA) said on Tuesday.
“Thus far there have only been a few isolated incidents of customers taking such chances, but we will be monitoring these rogue consumers,” head of economic and legislative affairs Patricia Pillay said in a statement.
Retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers in the industry were having to deal with consumers who did not fully understand the act and as a result they made impossible requests that went against the intention of the various provisions of the act, she said.
Pillay said it appeared that consumers were not fully aware of their rights and often misinterpreted certain parts of the provisions of the act, and this led to various challenges.
She said in addition to this concern, the Section 113 provision for vicarious liability also posed a challenge to the industry.
The section stated that if an employee or agent was acting in the course of his employment and committed an offence in terms of the CPA, the employer was jointly and severally liable for all instances except criminal liability.
This meant companies would have to deal with complaints based on their employee’s actions.
“Our members have embarked on a full-scale, nation-wide training exercise to up-skill their employees on the various provisions of the CPA that impact on the way that business is done in the industry.
“They are also trained on how to deal with consumer queries and complaints in line with their internal company processes in place,” Pillay said.
She said that, in an attempt to overcome the challenge of the Section 113 provision, the CGCSA had compiled a training programme which covered the practical implications of the CPA and how to ensure that businesses were compliant.
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