New Zealand Gazette – 2006 – No. 123

Page 3607

✨ Consumer Protection Guidelines



30 OCTOBER 2006 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 123 3607

Consumer protection

Domestic consumer contracts

12

The Electricity Commission should ensure that the terms and conditions of contracts between domestic consumers and electricity retailers (and where applicable, contracts between domestic consumers and electricity distributors) reflect the reasonable expectations of consumers. The Commission should develop, in consultation with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and other relevant interests, model terms and conditions or guidelines for these contracts. It should recommend regulations if model arrangements or guidelines are not comprehensively implemented.

13

The Commission should include the following matters in the contracts:

  • transparency of charge components
  • frequency of billing
  • company-specific arrangements for dispute resolution
  • arrangements for informing consumers about planned outages
  • arrangements for the benefit of low income domestic consumers as described below.

14

When developing arrangements for domestic consumer contracts, the Commission should have regard to any provision by the Commerce Commission for distribution businesses to engage with local communities on the trade-offs they wish to make concerning price and quality and reliability of supply.

Low fixed charges

15

The Government has introduced regulations(^8) to require retailers to offer low fixed charge tariff options of no more than 30c per day(^9) to domestic consumers. These tariff options should incorporate the following design features:

  • domestic consumers consuming less than 8,000 kWh/year must pay less on a low fixed charge tariff option than on any corresponding tariff option
  • the low fixed charge tariff options are to be advertised in the same manner as existing tariffs
  • the retailer must inform domestic consumers at least annually whether it may be beneficial for them to switch to a low fixed charge tariff option
  • the low fixed charge tariff options need only be available for homes where consumers usually reside
  • all retailers should make the tariffs genuinely available (subject to usual credit-worthiness tests), irrespective of the usage of the consumer, and

(^8) Electricity (Low Fixed Charge Tariff Option for Domestic Consumers) Regulations 2004, effective 1 October 2004.

(^9) Excluding GST, but after any prompt payment discount is subtracted.



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Online Sources for this page:

VUW Te Waharoa — PDF NZ Gazette 2006, No 123


Gazette.govt.nz — PDF NZ Gazette 2006, No 123




✨ LLM interpretation of page content

🏛️ Statutory Objectives for the Electricity Commission (continued from previous page)

🏛️ Governance & Central Administration
Electricity, Commission, Consumer Protection, Contracts, Tariffs, Regulations, Domestic Consumers