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Consumer Guarantees Act 1993

Guarantees in respect of supply of goods

7A: Guarantee of acceptable quality in supply of gas and electricity

You could also call this:

“Gas and electricity must be safe, reliable, and good enough for everyday use”

When you get gas or electricity from a supplier, they promise you that it will be of acceptable quality. This means:

  1. The gas or electricity supply will be as safe as you would reasonably expect.

  2. The supply will be as reliable as you would reasonably expect for where you live.

  3. The quality of the gas or electricity will be good enough for you to use it for things you would normally use it for.

When thinking about what’s reasonable to expect, you should remember that:

  • Sometimes emergencies or other events outside anyone’s control might affect the supply.
  • The supply might be interrupted for safety reasons or maintenance.
  • The quality might change a bit, but only within what’s allowed by safety rules.
  • The reliability and quality might be different depending on where you live.
  • Better reliability and quality might cost more.

Your gas or electricity supply won’t be considered unacceptable if:

  • You’ve used it in an unreasonable way or used too much of it.
  • The supplier has told you that the supply to your place will be much worse than usual, and you’ve agreed to accept it anyway.

These rules apply to gas retailers (as defined in the Gas Act 1992) and electricity retailers (as defined in the Electricity Industry Act 2010).

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6159815.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection
Business > Industry rules
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7: Meaning of acceptable quality, or

“What it means for something you buy or hire to be good enough”

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7B: Relationship of section 7A with rest of Act, or

“How section 7A works with the rest of the Consumer Guarantees Act”

Part 1 Guarantees in respect of supply of goods

7AGuarantee of acceptable quality in supply of gas and electricity

  1. There is a guarantee that the supply of gas by a gas retailer, and the supply of electricity by an electricity retailer, to a consumer is of an acceptable quality.

  2. The guarantee of acceptable quality is a guarantee that—

  3. the supply of gas or electricity is as safe as a reasonable consumer would expect it to be; and
    1. the supply of gas or electricity to a place is as reliable as a reasonable consumer would expect a supply to that place to be; and
      1. the quality of the gas or electricity supplied is such that it can be consistently used for the things that a reasonable consumer would expect to use gas or electricity for.

        1. When determining what a reasonable consumer would expect, it is assumed that the consumer has considered—

        2. that the supply of gas or electricity may be affected by emergencies, or other events or circumstances, outside the control of the retailer or any other person involved in the supply of gas or electricity; and
          1. that the supply of gas or electricity may be interrupted for safety, maintenance, or other technical reasons; and
            1. that the quality of gas or electricity supplied may fluctuate, but that fluctuations are acceptable only within tolerances permitted by gas and electricity safety regulations; and
              1. that the reliability and quality of the supply of gas or electricity may vary depending on the location of the place to which the gas or electricity is supplied; and
                1. that reliability and quality of supply may be related to price.

                  1. The supply of gas or electricity will not fail to comply with the guarantee of acceptable quality—

                  2. if the gas or electricity has been used by the consumer in an unreasonable manner or to an unreasonable extent, and the supply of gas or electricity would have complied with the guarantee of acceptable quality if it had not been used in that manner or to that extent; or
                    1. if, in a case where the quality and reliability of supply by a gas or electricity retailer to a particular consumer is likely to be significantly worse than the quality and reliability of supply that generally applies to gas or electricity supplied by the retailer,—
                      1. the retailer or the person supplying line function services has specifically explained to the consumer the ways in which the supply is likely to be significantly worse; and
                        1. the consumer has accepted the supply on that basis, even if an otherwise reasonable consumer may not regard that supply as acceptable.

                        2. In this section and section 7B,—

                          electricity retailer means a retailer as defined in the Electricity Industry Act 2010

                            gas retailer means a gas retailer as defined in the Gas Act 1992.

                            Notes
                            • Section 7A: inserted, on , by section 9 of the Consumer Guarantees Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 144).