CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT AND SABS Grade 11 Term 3 Week 10 Lesson plan 3 The consumer CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT AND SABS Grade 11 Term 3 Week 10 Lesson plan 3

THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 was signed in April 2009 and came into effect on 1 April 2011 The Consumer Protection Act applies to every transaction involving buying and selling as well as the promotion and supply of goods and services in South Africa

Aims of the consumer protection act To promote a fair, accessible and sustainable place for people to sell their products and services To establish national standards to protect consumers To provide guidelines for better consumer information and to prohibit unfair business practices

To promote responsible consumer behaviour To promote consistent laws relating to consumer transactions and agreements and to enforce these laws To establish a National Consumer Commission

Consumer rights specified in the consumer protection act Right to equality in the consumer market place Right to privacy Right to choose Suppliers are not permitted to limit access to goods and services or to charge different prices for goods to different people Consumers have the right to restrict unwanted direct marketing or to stop receiving direct marketing Consumers have the right to shop around for the best prices and to cancel or renew fixed term agreements Consumers may request written quotations or cost estimates Consumers may return goods that are unsafe or defective and get a full refund Consumers may reject goods that are not the same as the sample used in marketing

Right to disclosure of information Right to fair and responsible marketing Contracts and agreements must be easy to understand and must be written in plain language Businesses must display prices in full view Consumers may request unit prices of goods Consumers may pay the lower price if two prices are displayed Product labels and trade descriptions must not be misleading Businesses must display the country of origin and expiry dates and state if ingredients have been genetically modified Suppliers may not mislead consumers regarding pricing, advantages or uses of goods advertised Consumers may cancel purchases made through direct marketing within five working days

Right to fair and honest dealing Right to fair, just and reasonable terms and conditions Right to fair value, good quality and safety Right to accountability from suppliers Suppliers may not use physical force or harass customers Suppliers may not give misleading or false information Businesses may not promote pyramid or chain-letter schemes, directly or indirectly Businesses may not overbook or oversell goods or services and not honor their agreement Suppliers may not market or supply goods at prices that are unfair or unreasonable Suppliers must provide consumers with written notice of clauses that may be harmful to the consumer Consumers have the right to demand quality service, receive goods that are of good quality and in working order and receive a warranty Consumers are entitled to protection in lay-buy agreements Suppliers must honor credit vouchers and pre-paid services

South african bureau of standards The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) was established in 1945 to regulate the quality of South African goods and services Its purpose is to set, promote and maintain quality standards for products and services The SABS database has over 6000 different national standards, which the organization is continually developing and amending

Experts from the SABS represent South Africa’s interests in the development of international standards The standards of the ISO (International Organization of Standardization) are used by many businesses to ensure that their services or products comply with international standards The SABS has a commercial section that offers certification, testing, consignment inspection and other services to businesses that pay for these services

If products comply with specific standards of quality, they may display the SABS mark of approval The mark asserts that the product is a good quality item