2011 Annual Report - The Commerce Commission

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Table: 6 Cases Successfully Disposed in 2011- Northern Division (cont…)Cases Resolved in 2011Case Number Case Name Case Details2011/06/21 –FTDN302011/05/30 –FTDN342011/07/18 –FTDN392011/09/13 –FTDN42Consumer Ivs. CompanyQInstitution Avs. CompanyRInstitution Avs. CompanySInstitution Avs. CompanyTThe complaint was referred to the Commission by the Consumer Council of Fijion 21 st June, 2011. Consumer I of Bua lodged a complaint against Company Qfor delivering a damaged tank to Bua. An Investigation conducted revealed thatCompany Q provided a 20 year warranty on the drums. Company Q advisedthe Commission that they would repair or replace the drum by 24/06/2011. On25/06/2011, it was revealed by Company Q employees that the drum was notleaking; however the fitting installed by the owner was faulty. The employeesof Company Q did all the repairs and the drum is now in operational condition.The complaint was referred to the Commission by Institution A on 21 st June,2011. Institution A alleged that Company R was engaging in conditional saleswith regards to the sale of butter. An Investigation on 30 th May, 2011, revealedthat Rewa Butter was out of stock at Company R (Labasa), therefore theManager of Company R in Labasa was verbally warned and advised not toengage in such practices as it was a breach of CCD 2010.On 6 th June, 2011, the Institution A referred a complaint to the Commissionregarding Company S. It was claimed that Company S did not issue receipts forthe service works done to Consumer J’s watch and did not refund ConsumerJ’s money since the watch was not in operational condition after repairs weredone. Investigations revealed that Company S was a non– vat registeredTrader, however through mediation Company S refunded the service charge toConsumer J.On 13 th September, 2011, Institution A alleged that Company T was putting acondition that for every purchase of a mobile phone, the customers would haveto buy a Company T top-up of $10.00. The case was investigated and it wasrevealed that Company T was indeed engaging in such practices. The ShopManager was verbally warned and advised not to engage in such practices as itviolated Section 87 (E) of the Commerce Commission Decree 2010.Provisions ofCCD2010ConsumerProtection &Unfair PracticeConsumerProtection &Unfair PracticeConsumerProtection &Unfair PracticeConsumerProtection &Unfair PracticeSectionsBreachedSection 76(1) & 83 (1)Section 87E(1)Section 76Section 87(E)Page159of236
2.0 RENTS DEPARTMENT2.1 INTRODUCTIONRent is a component of housing in the National Consumer Basket and is under price control by the Fiji Commerce Commission. Its control was inheritedfrom the Counter-Inflation Act, Cap 73 and is now governed under the Commerce Commission Decree 2010 (“Decree”).In recent surveys, rent comprises approximately 70% of the total housing sector contribution to the National Basket. In consideration of this fact, theMinister responsible then directed that it be brought under price control as one of the measures to control inflation.The Commission retained rent control during the merger as dictated by the Decree and it augurs well with one of its mandated functions of protectingconsumers. The control was made more relevant in light of the on-going demand for housing, prevalent in urban and peril-urban areas of Fiji, causedlargely by the rise in the rural to urban drift and the scarcity of available land for housing purpose. The scenario has placed tenants (consumers) in amore disadvantaged bargaining position and the threat of exploitation warrants the current control to continue if considered in light of the Commission’sfunctions and the government’s social responsibility.Under the Decree, rent is governed under Section 42 on Records, Section 45 on powers to restrict increases by order through the approval of theMinister, Section 46 on Exclusions and Section 47 on Notifications of increase. Other rental issues such as bond money, evictions and general tenancymatters are considered under the ambit of Section 15 (1) (h),(i) and (j) of the functions provisions. There are also certain sections of Part 7 of the Decreethat could also be utilized to protect tenant rights.The Commission inherited rent freeze during the merge and since it originated from a Ministerial directive, the Commission continued to enforce andextend it in light of recent developments. The freeze covers all residential and ground rentals to which the Decree applies. The current rent freeze orderis cited as the Commerce (Rent Increase Restriction) (No. 2) Order, 2011 which would expire on 31 December 2012. The latest imposition came via aMinisterial directive through the recommendation of the Commission as the review of local rental laws is yet to be completed.Briefly, the rent review referred above was necessary to harmonize the fragmented legislations of landlord and tenancy in the laws of Fiji. The reviewwas overdue as the stakeholders continue to encounter difficulties in understanding the rules that govern the business of letting or renting.Page160of236
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LETTER TO THE MINISTERHonorable Aiy
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5. Legal DepartmentThe department
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1.0 FAIR TRADING DEPARTMENT1.1 Over
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Figure 1: FTD Cases - Breakdown in
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Table 2: Cases Successfully Dispose
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Table 17: Summary of Marina, Airpor
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Table 17: Summary of Marina, Airpor
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Table: 18 Investigations and Resear
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Table: 19 Determinations and Price
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Table:20 Petroleum Re etail Price-2
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Table: 24 Summaries of Inspections
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Table: 25 Summary of Inspections -
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5.0 Legal Department5.1 OverviewThe
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Table: 32 Number of Prosecutions fo
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FINANCIAL STATEMENT
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2011 Annual Report - The Commerce Commission

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