Milton's Newsletter - 9 March 2018

Hi Readers,

Quote of the week

"Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt." - Herbert Hoover

Topics this week:

1. World Consumer Rights Day - 15 March 2018
2. Appointment of Consumer Representative to NSI
3. Consumer Protection Act
4. Housing & Estate Agents
5. Number Portability - change your provider not your number
6. CRAN Protects Consumers from Being Charged High Collection Fees for Outstanding Debts (by MTC)
7. Message from NCPG Director

The global consumer movement will once again unite for a day of action on 15 March 2018. The international theme for World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is ‘Making digital marketplaces fairer’. Building on the success of the 2017 #BetterDigitalWorld campaign, the 2018 campaign will aim to promote digital marketplaces that are more accessible, safer and fairer for consumers across the globe.

E-commerce, or buying products and services online, has transformed the way we consume. Consumers with a connected device and a payment method can buy anything from music to take-away; book transport and accommodation; or buy tickets to events. This new way to trade has opened up a vast array of choice for consumers and enhanced convenience on a scale never seen before.
However, along with benefits, e-commerce raises key issues for consumers such as: access to fair and secure markets, being sure there is redress when things go wrong, and being exposed to scams and fraud. Because of this, the consumer movement must work to ensure that digital marketplaces are fairer for everyone.

Consumer Activism in Namibia

The Namibia Consumer Protection Group was founded in 2009 to unify and mobilize consumers through the identification of visible and clear targets in the community, and propose specific changes for the benefit of the consumers.
This year, in addition to supporting the theme of “Making digital marketplaces fairer”, the NCPG also provides feedback on the success and disappointments in the Namibian consumer environment.

Appointment of Consumer Representative to NSI

The Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development has appointed the Director of NCPG, Mr Milton Louw to the Namibia Standards Council, the governing council of the Namibia Standards Institute. Through this representation, consumers participate in improving quality, industrial efficiency, productivity and promotion of trade to derive optimum benefits for Namibia and its consumers.

Consumer Protection Act

The delay in the submission of the Consumer Protection Bill to Parliament is very disappointing. The various stages and drafts that have been part of the process have been coming along since before 2010, when H.E. Dr. Hage Geingob (then Minister of Trade & Industry) promised in a speech read on his behalf that the Consumer Protection Act will be submitted to Parliament within one year. The NCPG hopes that in this “year of reckoning”, the newly appointed Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development, Hon. Tjekero Tweya, will ensure that his staff brings this promise to reality.

Housing and Estate Agents

Within this Ministry, it must be noted with disappointment also at the state of the Namibian Estate Agents Board (NEAB) which is without a Board for a lengthy period of time. They are the official regulating authority and every estate agent must be registered with it. The primary function of the Board is to protect the public interest (consumers) in their dealings with agents while maintaining and promoting the integrity of estate agents. Obviously, without a Board in place, consumers are not getting the protection they deserve under the law.

Number Portability - change your provider not your number

The Communications Regulation Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has once again brought hope that the issue of Number Portability will be addressed within the next 12 months. According to the Communications Act (Act No. 8 of 2009) “number portability” means the ability of users of telecommunications services to retain, at the same location, existing telecommunications numbers without impairment of quality, reliability or convenience when switching from one carrier to another. Further according to Section 81 (3) “The numbering plan must require mobile number portability by all technology and service neutral licensees within two years from the date of commencement of this Act.”

The Media Statement on National Numbering Plan and Number Portability released on 22 February 2018 states: “The implementation of number portability will commence within 12 months from the final publication of the proposed regulations.”

The NCPG hopes that the process, which is 7 years overdue, is eventually implemented and “provides for an array of benefits such as to allow consumers with the right to retain their telephone numbers (fixed and mobile) when changing service providers, support economic growth, encourage participation in the communications sector and most importantly, ensure fair competition” as stated by the CEO, Mr. Festus K. Mbandeka in the statement.

CRAN Protects Consumers from Being Charged High Collection Fees for Outstanding Debts (by MTC)

CRAN must be applauded for the decision on a consumer complaint about the 18% collection commission that Mobile Telecommunications Limited (“MTC”) charges on outstanding debts. (The complaint was received in 2013.)
The following is taken directly from the Media Statement published on 16 February 2018:
MTC’s Subscriber Agreement states that if the subscriber breaches the contract, MTC shall be entitled to recover all legal and other costs which shall include 18% collection commission that may be legally recovered from the subscriber by MTC.
The Authority concluded and resolved as follows:

1. MTC may not charge consumers a collection commission of 18% on any debts emanating from service level agreements for the provision of telecommunication services;
2. All debts arising from subscriber agreements between consumers and MTC are to be charged a collection commission of 10% only in line with the Magistrate’s Court Rule; and
3. The Magistrate Court Rules are aimed at ensuring that tariffs that have a bearing on collection of debts are reasonable, fair and equitable. The charges by the debt collectors are not exempt from the Magistrate Court Rules.

Aggrieved and affected consumers are encouraged to manage their cases directly with MTC. If such consumers feel their cases have not been addressed within 14 days from the date in which it was formally reported to MTC, then they should follow CRAN’s consumer complaint procedures.
This means that all consumers who have been charged the amount of 18% on outstanding debts can now insist on being refunded these fees.

We applaud the decision by CRAN and hope that MTC will put in place a method that will return these unfairly charged fees – and the interest they (MTC) might have received on these monies.

Conclusion
The Namibia Consumer Protection Group (NCPG) has grown to 1,481 members as of 08 March 2018. The group started in 2009 and we have been able to ensure consumers issues are raised and shared amongst the people of Namibia. We will continue to be a Namibian organisation that campaigns for customer rights and focuses on illegal and unethical behaviour by Namibian companies.

To join the Namibia Consumer Protection Group please visit our community page on Facebook.
https:/www.facebook.com/groups/namibiaconsumer/

Yours in consumer rights

Milton LOUW
Volunteer Executive Director

Namibia Government OMA's and their websites

Parliament http://www.parliament.gov.na/
National Assembly https://goo.gl/ynxNtS
National Council https://goo.gl/oeiynU

Offices

Office of the President http://www.op.gov.na/
Office of the Prime Minister http://www.opm.gov.na/
Office of the Judiciary http://www.judiciary.na/

GRN

Ministries

Agriculture, Water and Forestry http://www.mawf.gov.na/
Defence http://www.mod.gov.na/
Education, Arts and Culture http://www.moe.gov.na/
Environment and Tourism http://www.met.gov.na/
Finance http://www.mof.gov.na/
Fisheries and Marine Resources http://www.mfmr.gov.na/
Gender Equality and Child Welfare http://www.mgecw.gov.na/
Health and Social Services http://www.mhss.gov.na/
Home Affairs and Immigration http://www.mha.gov.na/
Higher Education, Training and Innovation http://www.moe.gov.na
Industrialization, Trade and SME Development http://www.mti.gov.na/
International Relations and Cooperation http://www.mirco.gov.na/
Information and Communication Technology http://www.mict.gov.na/
Justice http://www.moj.gov.na/
Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation http://www.mol.gov.na/
Land Reform http://www.mlr.gov.na/
Mines and Energy http://www.mme.gov.na/
Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare
Public Enterprises http://www.mpe.gov.na/
Safety & Security
      Namibian Correctional Service http://www.ncs.gov.na/
      Namibian Police Force http://www.nampol.gov.na/
Sport, Youth and National Service http://www.msyns.gov.na/
Urban and Rural Development http://www.murd.gov.na/
Veterans Affairs & Marginalised Affairs http://www.mova.gov.na/
Works and Transport http://www.mwt.gov.na/

Agencies

Anti-Corruption Commission http://www.accnamibia.org/
Electoral Commission of Namibia http://www.ecn.na/
Namibia Central Intelligence Service
National Planning Commission http://www.npc.gov.na/
Office of the Attorney-General http://www.ag.gov.na/
Office of the Auditor-General http://www.oag.gov.na/
Office of the Ombudsman http://www.ombudsman.org.na/
Public Service Commission of Namibia http://www.psc.gov.na/

NSI to host 5th annual National Quality Awards

The Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) will host the 5th annual National Quality Awards event on November 23 in Windhoek.

The National Quality Awards is the brainchild of the Cabinet-approved National Quality Policy document of June 1, 1999. The event is part of the government’s drive to establish, develop and enhance a strong and fully functional national quality infrastructure regime and encourage a quality culture in the country.

The aim of the quality awards is to recognize and appreciate industries and enterprises, including the service sector and individuals who perform excellently on quality.

It also honours those who contribute to quality advancement in all sectors of the economy, by having measurements and quality systems, procedures and processes that are in line with local, regional and international practices.
The programme furthermore recognizes individuals who use quality advancement to support national economic development and growth.

The NSI’s general manager for standards development and coordination, Jekonia Haufiku, said the awards further aim to enhance the understanding of quality principles, business methods and all national and international standards that promote quality and competitiveness.

“Through these awards we want to encourage industry to use standards to add value to their products so as to competitively market their products and develop their brands at international level. We also want to encourage individuals with drive and expertise in quality related issues to become active role players in strengthening the local quality infrastructure regime.”

He added that apart from honouring enterprises, the event also recognizes individual contributions towards Namibia’s quest of creating a strong national quality infrastructure regime.

The event aims at attracting broad national representation and participation from across all fourteen regions and all sectors of the economy and across all business spectrums and sizes.

The National Quality Awards consists of five categories, namely Company of the Year, Product of the Year, Service of Year, Exporter of the Year as well as the Individual Quality Award.

All businesses, large or small, are eligible to participate in the first four categories provided they are registered with the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development and have good standing with the Receiver of Revenue. The participating enterprises in the first four categories must be applying standards and provide proof of up-to-date certification against at least one standard.

The NSI has appointed independent judges from the quality fraternity to ensure balanced adjudication, and judges are expected to comply with the code of ethics and conduct for judges. The five national category winners will represent Namibia in the annual SADC Quality Awards event in 2018.

Why computer decision making makes us less human

Computers are wonderful tools for taking the boring work and doing it with complaining. However, we must realize that no computer can replace the human trigger of compassion, love or understanding of another human being.

Rachel (not her real name) has a small business selling various indigenous products ranging from ingredients of traditional beer to the homemade beer, cloth for traditional dresses to the complete customer ordered dress, etc. Her monthly income ranges from 15,000 to 20,000 a month. Last month she had an unexpected bonus when a musical group ordered dresses valued at over 200,000. Being a shrewd businesswoman she invested 50,000 in paying her rent for 8 eight months in advance as well as stocking up her food so she will only need to replenish at the end of February next year. After all she has learnt the hard way what happens during Januworry. Her company has continued making its usual income and she feels quite secure in her present position and is even thinking of expanding and adding another staff member. However, quite unexpectedly as Death tends to be, her brother passed away and the funeral arrangements with the obligatory trip to the north for the funeral have depleted all her savings that she needed to cope with till end of the month.

Upon her return from the funeral she decides to visit the bank to get a loan of N$ 1,500 to pay for every day expenses till she gets her payment of N$20,000 for an order that already been delivered. She visits her ban and has all her paperwork in order. She even has a certified copy of the death certificate to show why she needs a loan. The bank turns down her loan application when she approaches the front desk and does not even send her in to see a manager. She requests to see the bank manager but is explained that regardless of whether she sees the manager, the “system” has already turned down her application. It is explained that her account was now in debit of - N$ 123.00 and her clients have not done their payments via electronic funds transfer (EFT). The computer has indicated that she is not trustworthy for a loan and no staff member can overwrite that instruction.

It is important to remember at this point that the banks make their money by loaning their customers money which they must make repayments – with the additional interest charged being the profit they make.

At some point, the top managers of banks, of which very few these days have come through the ranks from being tellers working with customers, decided to use computers to make decisions on whether the historical data should give out loans. According to international norms, “information about your past payment history gives a more accurate prediction of your future actions”.

Let us take this analogy and use it to consider whether a person will smoke in the future. According to the financial industry model, if a person who has smoked in the past, they are most likely to smoke again. They would not consider has the person stopped smoking, but only that they have smoked. It is thus clear that according to the banking (perhaps insurance too) fraternity, you are what you have always been and will probably not change.

Giving the decision making power of whether you may qualify for a loan based on an algorithm that cannot have the compassion of the present situation of the customer must not be allowed to become normal practice.  The most worrying factor is when these algorithms make decisions based on our ethnicity, marital status, or any other arbitrary factors decided by computer programmers away from the reality of life, we will be less for it.

No computer will ever be able to make decisions based on the unexpected happenings life throws our way.

Flipping house owners in Namibia

The “sub-prime mortgage crisis” in America in the period 2007 – 2010 was felt all around the world. Common wisdom tells us this was caused by banks and other financial institutions giving loans to high risk borrowers who could not repay the money. This message has been shared around the world and all of us agree that people with poor credit records should not be given loans as they cause a danger to all of us when they cannot repay. The proverb seems to be “Poor people were reckless and stupid, and banks got greedy.”

This is also the case in Namibia where the poor (read previously disadvantaged), have found it harder to borrow and thus end up renting property rather than getting an approved loan to purchase their property.

But what if this “common wisdom” is wrong?

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (USA) the 2007 crash did not occur because people with low credit borrowed to buy houses they could not afford. Rather it occurred because the wealthy and middle-class were purchasing property and “flipping” them. (The term flipping refers to buying a house or property with the intent to sell it for a profit at later time, normally no more than two years. The most important part of house-flipping is that your rental income will be enough to cover your bond. So in effect the person renting is paying for the purchase price until you sell the profit when you make a profit because house prices are going up.)

If this has been happening in Namibia, especially Windhoek, I contend that with the reduction in inflation and interest rate fluctuations (possible upwards next time round), combined with a reduction in rental incomes, we will soon see defaulting in the home owners’ market.

So if you own a second home and use that rental income to repay some of your loans, BE AWARE the market is experiencing difficulties and it will impact on you when you no longer are getting the expected rental income and its (previously) usual increase of 10%