Sanral responds to ASA ruling
Sanral has noted the rulings by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upholding or partially upholding the complaints with regard to two of its advertisements.
“As Sanral we are extremely aware of the scrutiny our advertising is exposed to and, as a result, we continuously strive to provide information, which we believe is truthful and accurate,” says Vusi Mona, spokesperson for Sanral.
He adds that Sanral has no intention to mislead the public.
“We would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight around the, unaudited, E-tag sales figures.”
He says that in the past, the manner in which “E-tag sales” have been reported in the media has sensationalised the matter.
“Also, because the terminology used in the different questions was used interchangeably, some misunderstanding might have arisen,” adds Mona.
Additionally, there are a number of factors that influence the figures.
These include:
* The feedback they receive from the key accountholders and retailers on E-tags taken up, sold or registered.
* The selling of vehicles and the re-allocation of E-tags to new vehicles, through the key accounts.
* The registration of vehicles on the key accountholder systems, but not on the E-toll account system.
* The selling of tags by retailers, but the non-linking of the E-tags to vehicles.
* The closing and re-opening of accounts, using the same or different E-tags.
* The registration of exempt vehicles.
“The accusation that Sanral is dishonest about the E-tag figures is concerning to us and we take it very seriously. In view of the ASA ruling, it would mean that all figures released by Sanral would need to be audited figures.
“However, E-tag figures will need to include auditing third parties’ processes that do not fall within Sanral,” he says.
Mona says Sanral would continue to be vigilant and monitor its communication. – @CarmenBoksburg
