Tuesday 15 March is International Consumer Day. It is therefore fitting that South Africa's Consumer Protection Act (CPA) No.68 of 2008 comes into effect at the end of this month.
The Act is set to change the way that consumers in South Africa are treated.
With this Act, consumers are expected to enjoy greater rights in dealing with any provider of goods and services. This means that as a consumer you will now have the right to demand quality service. Consumers will also be entitled to full disclosure of the price of goods and services. The obvious limitation is that the service in question must be legal.
A practical example is that when you purchase defective products, you will now be able to choose a method of compensation in the form of three Rs. These are refund, replacement and repair, respectively. One of these three will apply unless the consumer knowingly purchased products which were defective or of low quality.
Standard Bank Group encourages you to get to know the Act in greater detail to understand how it works for you.
You can obtain more information from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on http:
www.dti.gov.za.