Sanral’s harassing SMS is illegal – Outa
JOBURG – Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage indicates the organisation will take the necessary action against Sanral.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), formerly known as the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance, insists that the South African Road Agency Limited (Sanral) SMS harassment is illegal.
Sanral appointed a debt collection firm to hound people for payment of e-tolls.
“We reiterate that this conduct is in contravention of rule 5.3(b) of the Debt Collectors Code of Conduct,” explained the organisation’s chairperson Wayne Duvenage.
According to Outa, the act reads: ‘In collecting or attempting to collect a claim, a debt collector shall not: misrepresent the true nature of his or her business, or threaten to institute legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal, if there is no intention to carry out such a threat.’
Duvenage explained that Sanral’s desperate e-toll debt collection process has recently included the sending of thousands of threatening SMSs, which have been labelled as harassment and intimidation by the public.
“Furthermore, the recipients of these SMSs are not contracted to Sanral and they have no right to inundate the public with messages of this nature, without them having given consent to do so and without an opt-out option,” he further explained.
Outa is also following up on information provided to them which raises additional and serious concerns as to how this public data has been obtained by Sanral.
“Outa will be pursuing the necessary action accordingly. They did the same in 2014 and failed to coerce enough people to take up their e-tag offers. Now it is happening again,” concluded Duvenage.
Meanwhile, the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) issued a statement indicating that this tactic may well backfire. According to JPSA, Sanral’s decision to hire a debt collection firm to start threatening motorists has again proven its bad faith and unscrupulous business ethics.
According to a statement issued by the Automobile Association (AA), it is imperative that Sanral understood that it could not threaten legal action against motorists unless it intends following through with court action.
Details: Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, 082 884 6652; Automobile Association, 011 799 1126; Justice Project South Africa, 011 051 6985.
Related articles:
No e-toll referendum, says Makhura
