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Comments
on the Bill
This
document represents a positive shift away from the weak consumer
protection provisions contained in the Motor Vehicle Dealers Bill.
The provisions proposed in this document seek limited restrictions
on the manner in which vehicles are sold, while providing consumers
with protections and redress using existing consumer law and establishing
additional protections. On that balance, the Association generally
supports the provisions outlined in the document and endorse the
principles – outlined on page 3 of the document – on which those
provisions are based.
Our
submission makes a few brief comments on parts of the discussion
document, generally following the questions posed throughout the
paper. The Association is keenly looking forward to commenting
more fully on the Motor Vehicle Sales legislation resulting from
this review.
Occupational
Regulation
The
Association supports the proposals for vendor registration, including
a “banned persons” list and an effective self-regulation as a part
of the regime.
Options
for Consumer Protection
The
Association feels that existing legislation (that is, the Consumer
Guarantees Act and Fair Trading Act) can be relied on to provide
protection for consumers in motor vehicle sales. We request confirmation
that any new legislation developed as a result of this document
will not provide dealers with additional provisions to contract
out of the Consumer Guarantees Act.
The
Association will continue to provide information and education to
consumers of their rights under these Acts, and other ways that
consumers can protect themselves.
We
also welcome the introduction of a Consumer Information Standard
to assist consumers in their purchasing decisions. The Association
would like to be consulted on the content of the standard.
Statutory
Warranties
The
Association supports the proposal to remove statutory warranties
for the good reasons outlined in the discussion document.
Mechanical
Warranties
The
Association would welcome improved consumer choice with the introduction
of a competitive market for mechanical warranties and insurance.
Dealers could offer consumers a range of options for mechanical
warranties or insurance.
Odometer
Tampering
The
Association supports the introduction of penalties for sellers who
alter the odometer of a vehicle with the intent to misrepresent
its value.
Title
Protection
The
Association supports the proposal that all registered motor vehicle
vendors continue to be required to give good title when selling
a vehicle. We were opposed to the provision in the Motor Vehicle
Dealers Bill that would remove this protection.
Options
for Enforcement and Redress
The
Association welcomes and endorses the proposed changes to the Motor
Vehicle Disputes Tribunal, including: widening its jurisdiction
to include claims under the Consumer Guarantees Act, Sale of Goods
Act and the Fair Trading Act; increasing its monetary jurisdiction
from $12,000 to $50,000 (this jurisdiction should be reviewed periodically);
and, very importantly, retaining the consumer representative and
including a technical expert on the Tribunal.
The
Association does not support fees for the Disputes Tribunal. The
Association, therefore, does not support the funding of the Motor
Vehicle Disputes Tribunal through user charges; our arguments for
this were made in a submission on equitable fees in civil courts
to the Department for Courts.
[go here for
a copy of the submission]
Fidelity
Fund
The
Association supports retaining some form of a fidelity guarantee
fund, and would like to see additional information on the usefulness
of the options outlined in the document.
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