Commerce Act 1986

Miscellaneous provisions - Offences, regulations, and administrative provisions

102: Service of notices

You could also call this:

"How to give someone official documents for the Commerce Act"

When you need to give someone a notice or document for the Commerce Act 1986, you can do it in a few ways. You can deliver it to the person, leave it at their home or work, send it by post, or email it to them. You can leave the notice at the person's usual or last known address, or at the address they gave to the Commission. If you send it by post or email, it is considered received by the person on a certain day, unless they can prove otherwise.

If you are sending a notice to a group of people, you can give it to the secretary or manager of the group. This is considered to be giving the notice to all members of the group, unless the Commission says otherwise. The rules about giving notices were changed by the Electronic Interactions Reform Act 2017.

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This page was last updated on 31 August 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM89950.

Topics:

Business > Industry rulesGovernment and voting > Government departments

101: Notices, or

"The Commission must give you written notices with their seal or signature, and you can trust they are real unless proven otherwise."

103: Offences, or

"Breaking the law: what happens if you don't follow the rules"

Part 7Miscellaneous provisions
Offences, regulations, and administrative provisions

102Service of notices

A notice or any other document required or authorised to be served on or given to a person for the purposes of this Act may be served or given by—
delivering it to the person; or
leaving it at the person’s usual or last known place of residence or business or at the address specified by the person in any notice, application, or other document given to the Commission under this Act; or
sending it by post to the person’s usual or last known place of residence or business or to the address specified by the person in any notice, application, or other document given to the Commission under this Act; or
emailing it to the person at an email address that is used by the person.

A notice or any other document that is sent to a person by a service that records delivery must, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be treated as received by the person when it would have been delivered in the ordinary course of business for that service, and, in proving the delivery, it is sufficient to prove that the document was properly addressed and provided to the service.
In the absence of proof to the contrary, a notice or any other document that is emailed to a person must be treated as received by the person on the second working day after the date on which it is emailed, and, in proving that the document was emailed, it is sufficient to prove that the document was properly addressed and sent to the email address.
Where for any purpose under this Act a notice or document is required to be served on an association or body of persons the notice or document may be served on the secretary, executive officer, manager, or other officer holding a similar position in the association or body; and for the purposes of this Act, service on the association or body shall, unless otherwise directed by the Commission, be deemed to be service on all persons who are members of the association or body or who are represented on the association or body by those members.

Notes

Section 102(1): replaced, on 16 December 2017, by section 46 of the Electronic Interactions Reform Act 2017 (2017 No 50).
Section 102(2): replaced, on 16 December 2017, by section 46 of the Electronic Interactions Reform Act 2017 (2017 No 50).
Section 102(2A): inserted, on 16 December 2017, by section 46 of the Electronic Interactions Reform Act 2017 (2017 No 50).