Consumer Protection Act Implementation Deferred

CPA will only be implemented later in the year There is still a lot of confusion regarding issues of supplier liability.

It came as no surprise when it was announced that the implementation of the Consumer Protection Act was to be deferred to a later date next year.

There are still many issues to iron out in this controversial Act, especially governing issues of supplier liability.

The ministry has agreed that additional time is needed to prepare the groundwork for the implementation of the Act and administrative systems need to be adjusted in order to see it function well.

As such, the implementation has been deferred until the end of March, 2011.

Suppliers, in particular, find the Act in its present form highly ambiguous, without any knowledge of what they need to do in order to comply with the Act and prepare for its implementation.

Consumers have actually been looking forward to enjoying the benefits that the new Act will bring.

It is believed that the Act has the potential to improve service levels and give consumers the right to cancel fixed term agreements.

South Africans will also be protected from unwanted marketing under the Consumer Protection Act.

There will be many areas affected by the new act, including advertising, terms and conditions of standard contracts, information retention and liability.

However, not everything about the act is clear and these issues need to be addressed before it goes 'live'.

The insurance industry has warned its supplier customers to review their polices to make sure that they are in line with the Consumer Protection Act and that they do not expose themselves to unnecessary risks by not complying.