TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Google’s Equiano cable lands in Namibia

      3 July 2022

      More stage-6 load shedding on the cards for this week

      3 July 2022

      Load shedding nears previous annual record – with six months to go

      3 July 2022

      Unlawful Eskom strike costing South Africa three stages of load shedding

      1 July 2022

      Striking Eskom workers will face consequences: De Ruyter

      1 July 2022
    • World

      EU to impose wide-ranging new rules on the crypto industry

      3 July 2022

      Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows files for bankruptcy

      3 July 2022

      Meta girds for ‘fierce’ headwinds

      1 July 2022

      Graphics card prices plummet as crypto demand dries up

      30 June 2022

      Bitcoin just had its worst quarter in a decade

      30 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»In-depth»Icasa wants consumer act exemptions

    Icasa wants consumer act exemptions

    In-depth By Editor2 June 2011
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Icasa councillor Fungai Sibanda

    Despite coming into effect on 1 April, the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) continues to encounter opposition and challenges to its legitimacy.

    Various parties have claimed that existing regulatory bodies provide consumers with the sort of protection the CPA is meant to provide, and that they should therefore be exempt from the legislation.

    The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) on Thursday hosted a consultative workshop where interested parties were invited to present their case as to why they should be granted exemption from certain sections of the act.

    Icasa chairman Stephen Mncube used Thursday’s proceedings to decry claims he says were made in some media reports that Icasa is opposed to the CPA. He says the CPA applies to all industries, without exception, but where other regulatory bodies already exist, neither Icasa nor the CPA wish to do conflict in the roles. Instead, Mncube wants Icasa and the National Consumer Commission, created in terms of the CPA, to work together.

    Icasa councillor Fungai Sibanda says there are three main areas Icasa regards as potentially problematic for Icasa in the CPA.

    The first pertains to contract terms and conditions. Sibanda argues Icasa’s code of conduct addresses the type of language permissible in contracts, the provision of information and the publication of tariffs, the confidentiality of consumer information, promotional marketing regulations and issues relating to defective products.

    He says the Electronic Communications Act, which governs the telecommunications industry, does not give Icasa sufficient power to deal with each of these matters. Icasa wants to oversee billing matters but is willing to cede jurisdiction over some other issues to the CPA as it believes the act is better placed to deal with them.

    Sibanda says Icasa’s intention is “not to neglect consumers, but rather to provide them with the best protection and, in these matters, the CPA is best placed to ensure that. Icasa is therefore proposing exemption from billing provisions [only]”.

    Icasa also wants exemption from section 63 of the CPA. This section deals with prepaid vouchers. Sibanda says Icasa’s reading of this section suggests that as long as there is credit on a voucher the consumer is entitled to receive services, for a period of up to three years, which he believes may cause problems.

    “We are mandated to ensure there is effective and efficient use of numbers as they are a finite resource. The practice in the industry is that if a particular Sim card is not active — that is, not generating revenue — for a given period, that number is suspended and recycled,” he says. “Operators may, therefore, be restricted in the recycling of numbers [under the act] and we, as a regulatory authority, might run out of numbers sooner than expected.”

    The third area where Icasa is keen for exemption is section 54. This section deals with consumers’ rights to safe and good-quality products. Sibanda argues that Icasa’s existing end-user and subscriber service charter regulations are more detailed and more prescriptive in terms of the standards operators have to meet.

    He says Icasa has attempted to come up with regulations pertaining to handset subsidies and the duration of contracts (section 14 of the CPA) but that the body’s attempt to engage with operators had resulted in Icasa being told to “back off” by operators because of the then pending CPA. He hints that Icasa will not oppose this area being regulated in terms of the new act.  — Craig Wilson, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook
    Consumer Protection Act CPA Fungai Sibanda Icasa Stephen Mncube
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleMicrosoft takes wraps off Windows 8 (video)
    Next Article Investec, Nedbank buy Namibian telco

    Related Posts

    Clear the regulatory fog, ISPs urge Icasa

    30 June 2022

    The NFT party is over

    30 June 2022

    E.tv: ‘We know we must vacate broadband spectrum bands’

    29 June 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Billetterie simplifies interactions between law firms and clients

    30 June 2022

    Think herding cats is tricky? Try herding a cloud

    29 June 2022

    How your business can help hybrid workers effectively

    28 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.