Volkswagen Financial Services South Africa says it plans to appeal against the National Consumer Tribunal’s ruling that it charged some consumers “unlawful” fees.
The judgement handed down at the start of the week confirmed a compliance notice issued by the National Credit Regulator (NCR) in October 2017 regarding “on the road” fees, admin fees and handling fees on credit agreements. The tribunal found the three aforementioned fees charged by Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) to consumers on credit agreements were not permitted under the National Credit Act.
The tribunal ordered VWFS to “cease the practice and/or conduct of charging consumers the ‘on the road’, admin and handling fees on credit agreements from 10 April 2019” and to submit written confirmation to the NCR to this effect. It furthermore ruled VW SA’s finance arm “calculate the total amount of charges, fees or interest” levied on these fees and “refund all those consumers charges, fees or interest levied”.
But the brand’s finance arm believes it has “good prospects of success on appeal”.
“VWFS has taken external legal advice and the legal team has informed them that it has good prospects of success on appeal,” it said in a statement.
“As a result, VWFS has noted an appeal against the order. The noting of the appeal will suspend the order of the tribunal and VWFS will not be making any refunds until the appeal is finalised,” the statement added.
