Consumer Protection Law (Amendment – Duty to Record Calls, Retain Them and Provide Them to the Consumer) Bill

What does the bill do?

The proposal adds a new section to the Consumer Protection Law requiring businesses to record every phone call between them and a consumer in remote transactions (such as the sale of goods, banking services, communications and telephone services). The business must inform the consumer at the start of the call that it is being recorded, and keep the recording for seven years or another period the minister will set. A consumer may request to receive the recording or a written list of the call times free of charge (or for a fee if they repeated the request after the end of the period). A business that does not provide a recording or a list will be deemed to admit the consumer's version, and will not be able to present the recording as evidence in a civil proceeding. The law will take effect four months after its publication.