SA Consumers have rights and can file a complaint against suppliers of goods and services.
Many people know that there is a Consumer Protection Act, but don’t know how it works, or how it can be enforced. As a result, consumers are often left with the short end of the stick, when they don’t have to be.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) is the South African regulatory body, established in terms of Section 85 of the Consumer Protection Act No. 68 of 2008 (CPA). The primary role of the NCC is to protect the interests of consumers and ensure accessible, transparent and efficient redress for consumers.
In addressing complaints that alleged contravention of the Consumer Protection Act, the NCC: Promotes the resolution of disputes between consumers and suppliers.
Conducts investigations against those suppliers allegedly engaging in prohibited conduct, refer matters for prosecution to the National Consumer Tribunal.
Promotes compliance with the Consumer Protection Act, through advocacy, education, and awareness.
The Consumer Protection Act gives the consumer several fundamental consumer rights, in line with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection.
Any infringement of these rights is an act of non-compliance with the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act. A consumer of goods and services can file a complaint with the NCC, should a supplier undermine their consumer rights.
To make the filing of complaints easier, the NCC has said that South African consumers can now file their complaints online using the e-Service portal. The NCC is rolling out its first phase of the digitised complaint-handling process.
The https://eservice.thencc.org.za portal is live and is replacing the manual complaint form.
The acting National Consumer Commissioner Thezi Mabuza says consumers often complain about the manual process when they file complaints with the NCC.
As South Africans are now accustomed to online transactions, she says: “We want to make it easier and more convenient for them to file complaints from the comfort of their homes or on the spot. The portal also makes it easy and possible for consumers to log in and view the status of their complaints without contacting the NCC.”
The NCC’s portal is a seamless consumer complaint-handling process empowered by workflows in the back-end and instant consumer notifications.
Consumer registration is verified through the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and as such, consumers are urged to use correct names and ID numbers as they appear in their ID books.
Consumers may experience intermittent connectivity during the verification process due to interface with DHA and are therefore advised to be patient with the process.
The NCC is also enhancing the registration process to take the burden of ID verification from the consumer.
Consumers can follow these easy steps to create a profile online:
1) You need the following: ID/Passport number, email address, and mobile number;
2) Got to www.thencc.org.za/complaints or select the e-Service and OORs tab on the home page;
3) The page will take you to the e-services portal where you will be asked to create a profile;
4) When creating a profile, make sure that you use your names as they appear on your ID or
Passport (if you are a non-South African consumer);
5) Your ID or Passport number will be verified with the Department of Home Affairs;
6) Once your profile is verified and approved, you will receive confirmation with your login details via email
7) Only then can you log into your profile, change your password, and file a complaint. You can lodge as many complaints using the same login details.
The Commission has made arrangements to accommodate consumers who do not have access to the Internet or email addresses.
Mabuza says these consumers can still contact the Commission.
“To ensure that consumers enjoy their right to be heard, we encourage consumers who do not have access to the internet to utilise our contact centre for assistance. Our agents will create a profile on behalf of the consumer and file the complaint,” she concludes.
The complaints handling process is explained further on the website: www.thencc.org.za/complaints or contact our contact centre at 012 428 7000.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za