Under the spirit and letter of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), SANRAL ought to do more to educate consumers as to how the toll road e-billing system will work, their financial obligations (which should be clearly broken down) and other onerous terms – in particular those that constitute an assumption of risk or liability on the part of the consumer. This is according to Chris Charter, a Director in the Competition and Regulatory practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr business law firm.

“The CPA introduces and entrenches the rights of consumers to disclosure of relevant information in plain and understandable language,” Charter says.

“While it may be that a specific term is not objectively unfair or unreasonable, failure to adequately bring them to the attention of consumers in plain and understandable language may render the provisions unfair,” he explains.

He adds that it is also worth bearing in mind that SANRAL is dealing with the quintessential “man in the street”, who in most cases has no choice but to contract with SANRAL.

“This relationship places an added burden on SANRAL to be wholly transparent and approachable in its dealings with consumers.”

For more information:
Chris Charter, Director, Competition Practice, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr,
Tel: +27 (0)11 562 1053 or email: chris.charter@dlacdh.com

Andrea Collocott, Head: Marketing, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr,
Tel: +27 (0)11 562 1281 or email: andrea.collocott@dlacdh.com

Angela Graham, Tel: 073 505 9012 yeahwrite@worldonline.co.za

Notes:
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is one of the largest commercial law firms in South Africa with some 115 directors/partners and 250 qualified lawyers located at offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr lawyers specialise in services covering the complete spectrum of business legal needs in 11 core areas of practice. The firm also has dedicated sector-led teams consisting of lawyers with experience in a wide range of industries and the public sector.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is the South African member firm of DLA Piper Group, an alliance of legal practices, which includes firms with offices around the globe that are affiliated to members of the DLA Piper Practice but are not themselves members of it.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's Africa practice, in conjunction with DLA Piper Africa Group, is unrivalled in terms of pan-African legal services and geographical coverage.

DLA Piper is an international legal practice with over 3,500 lawyers located in 30 countries and 69 offices throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

For further information, please visit www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com