Consumer Protection Act Tips

28 April 2022
South African Accounting Academy

Some interesting facts that both suppliers and consumers must be aware of.:

If you are marketing, distributing, manufacturing or selling goods and services in South Africa, you must comply with the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) irrespective of the size of your business or whether your business is formal or informal.
You are required to display a price if you are advertising any goods or service to the public.
If you directly market any goods or services to consumers, they can cancel their contracts within 5 days (cooling off period).
Consumers have the right to receive a refund, replacement, or repair at their own choice if the goods bought from you are defective within 6 months from the date of purchase.
An agreement between a consumer and supplier must be in plain language that is easy to understand.
A supplier may not accept money from a consumer if s/he is not able to supply goods or services as a result of insufficient stock or incapacity to render a service.

Click here to access these tips:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/consumer-goods-services-ombudsman/posts/?feedView=all

Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:

The Consumer Protection Act is yet another piece of legislation that your clients (as suppliers of goods and services) must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with. If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
As a consumer, you also need be aware of your rights and responsibilities in terms of the Consumer Protection Act.

Relevance to Your clients:

A supplier of relevant goods and services has a duty to comply with the Consumer Protection Act, otherwise they could be held liable.
As an individual, a consumer has a duty to be aware of his/her rights and responsibilities in terms of the Consumer Protection Act.

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