Consumer Protection Act Article 14: The agreement between the supplier and consumer Part 3  

In our previous article, we discussed the agreement between the supplier and consumer in regards to pre-contractual requirements.

In this article, we shall continue to discuss the agreement between the supplier and consumer but in relation to the terms of an agreement.

Notice required for certain terms and conditions:

Previously, under the common, parties to an agreement held a fair amount of contractual freedom to stipulate the terms of the agreement and the manner of presenting them. For example, the “fine print” is recorded in small writing somewhere at the bottom of the agreement. Now the CPA attempts to rectify the consequences of uneven bargaining power and stipulates that certain conditions must be brought to the attention of the consumer. A supplier is therefore required to bring to the consumer’s attention any terms or conditions that:

  1. Limits the risk or liability of the supplier in any way, commonly the limitation of liability;

  2. Assigns risk or liability to the consumer;

  3. Obliges the consumer to indemnify the supplier of any risk; or

  4. Constitutes an acknowledgement of any fact or issue by the consumer, commonly that the consumer has been made aware of certain facts or received an item.

Should an agreement contain such conditions it must be brought to the consumer’s attention in an obvious manner, for example by printing the conditions in bold or underlying them or requiring a signature next to the condition. These conditions must also be in plain and understandable language and must be brought to the consumer’s attention before signing the agreement or being required to make payment for any goods or services.  

Stricter compliance is required when the service being offered is inherently dangerous and could result in death or injury and the consumer may not reasonably be expected to be aware of it. Here the consumer’s attention must be drawn to this fact.

***Kindly note that the contents of this article are intended for information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult your attorney.

In our next article, we will continue to discuss the agreement between the supplier and consumer but in relation to unreasonable, unfair and unjust contractual terms.